Chapter Six: The Etiquette of Istinjāʾ

With regard to the courtesies of cleansing oneself and of entering the lavatory, most jurists deem them commendable acts (mandūb). They are established by the Sunnah: withdrawing to a distant spot when one wishes to relieve oneself, refraining from speaking while doing so, the prohibition of using the right hand for istinjāʾ or for touching one’s private part, and other practices reported in the traditions.

The scholars disagree over one well-known question alone: whether it is permissible to face the qiblah or turn one’s back to it while defecating or urinating. On this point they hold three opinions:

• It is never permissible to face the qiblah—or to turn one’s back to it—for either defecation or urination under any circumstances.

• It is permissible without restriction.

• It is permissible within built-up areas and towns but impermissible in open country and places without construction.

This divergence is rooted in two authentic yet seemingly conflicting ḥadīths. The first is the report of Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī in which the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “When you go to relieve yourselves, do not face the qiblah and do not turn your backs to it; rather, face east or west.” The second is the report of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar: “I once climbed to the roof of my sister Ḥafṣah’s house and saw the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—sitting on two bricks to relieve himself, facing Syria with his back to the qiblah.”

In addressing these two reports the scholars adopted three methodological approaches:

• the approach of reconciliation (jamʿ),
• the approach of preferential weighting (tarjīḥ), and
• the approach of reverting, when an irreconcilable conflict remains, to the original presumption of non-liability (barāʾah aṣliyyah)—that is, the absence of any binding ruling.