On Facing the Qiblah When Urinating or Defecating

It is established from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, through the narration of Abū Hurayrah, that he “forbade facing the qiblah when urinating or defecating.”

It is also reported that Ibn ‘Umar said: “I once climbed onto the roof of a house of ours and saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on two bricks, facing Jerusalem while relieving himself.” A version other than Mālik’s reads, “facing Jerusalem with his back towards the qiblah,” which clarifies the wording in Mālik’s narration.

It is reported that ‘Ā’ishah said: “It was mentioned in the Prophet’s presence, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that some people disliked facing the qiblah with their private parts. He said: ‘Have they really done so? Turn my seat towards the qiblah.’”

It is also reported through Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “forbade facing the qiblah or turning one’s back towards it when urinating or defecating.” Jābir then said: “After that, a year before his death, I saw him facing the qiblah while urinating.”

Scholars differed over how to interpret and apply these hadiths. Some adopted the first hadith and understood it to apply generally to villages, cities, open plains, and deserts. Others—the Zāhirīs—considered Jābir’s hadith to abrogate it, and thus permitted facing the qiblah when urinating or defecating.

Mālik, however, applied both the first hadith and Ibn ‘Umar’s hadith, treating the latter as restricting the general scope of the former. He held that the prohibition concerned only deserts and open plains, not villages and cities. This is his position in al-Mudawwanah. According to his position there, it is permissible