Chapter: Entering the Lavatory and Cleansing (istinjā)
This chapter sets out the etiquette of entering the lavatory, remaining there, and leaving it. It also explains how to remove impurity from the two exits with a stone or anything that serves the same purpose, and how to guard oneself against defilement. It therefore belongs to the Book of Purification discussed earlier.
First ḥadith
Anas b. Mālik reported that whenever the Prophet ﷺ entered the lavatory he would say, “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from al-khubuth wa’l-khabā’ith.”
Khubuth—with ḍamma on both the khāʼ and the bāʼ—is the plural of khabīth (male evil being); khabā’ith is the plural of khabītha (female evil being). Thus he sought protection from the male and female devils.
Unfamiliar vocabulary
-
“When he entered the lavatory” means: when he intended to enter, just as in the verse, “Whenever you recite the Quran, seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed” (Q 16:98)—i.e., when you intend to recite the Quran. Al-Bukhārī states this explicitly in al-Adab al-Mufrad, narrating from Anas that the Prophet ﷺ, when he wished to enter the lavatory, would utter the supplication cited here.
-
“Al-khalā’,” with an extended vowel, literally means an empty place. Here it denotes the place set aside for relieving oneself. If someone uses an open space such as the desert, there is no need to interpret “entered” as “intended to enter.”
-
“Al-khubuth wa’l-khabā’ith”: read, as above, with ḍamma on the bāʼ, it refers to the male devils. Some read it with a sukūn on the bāʼ, in which case it means “evil” in general. In that reading the Prophet ﷺ is seeking refuge from evil and its agents—the khabā’ith—so the supplicant should bear this broad sense in mind.
Overall meaning
Anas b. Mālik, honoured to have served the Prophet ﷺ, relates the Prophet’s etiquette when answering the call of nature. Because of his constant reliance on his Lord, the Prophet ﷺ never neglected to mention Allah and seek His help in any circumstance. Thus, whenever he intended to enter the place where he would relieve himself, he sought Allah’s protection, imploring Him to shield him from the evil inherent in impurity and to guard him from the khabā’ith—that is, the devils.