Overall meaning:
The Prophet ﷺ instructs his community in one of the etiquettes of relieving oneself: they must neither face the qiblah—the noble Kaʿbah—nor turn their backs to it while attending to this need, because it is the direction of prayer and a site of honor and sanctity. Instead, they should angle themselves toward the east or the west, provided that doing so does not bring them into direct alignment with the Kaʿbah, as is the case for the people of Madinah.

Because the Companions ﵃ were the quickest of people to obey the Prophet’s command—which is the very truth—Abū Ayyūb related that when they entered Syria after its conquest they found privies already built facing the Kaʿbah. They would therefore turn aside from the qiblah, though on occasion one of them might forget and find himself facing it. Once he became aware, he would shift away from that direction and ask Allah’s forgiveness for his unintentional lapse.

Points derived from the ḥadith

1. It is forbidden to face the qiblah or turn one’s back to it while relieving oneself.
2. One is instructed to angle away from the qiblah in that situation.
3. In principle, the commands and prohibitions of the Sacred Law address the entire ummah. Some rulings, however, can be specific to a portion of it. This directive is one such case, for his statement, “Rather, face east or west,” applies to the people of Madinah and to anyone situated like them, for whom facing east or west does not result in facing the qiblah.
4. The wisdom behind this ruling is to exalt and honor the noble Kaʿbah. A marfūʿ report states, “When one of you goes to the place of relieving himself, let him honor Allah’s qiblah and not face it.”
5. The intended seeking of forgiveness here is inward—by the heart, not by the tongue—because verbal remembrance of Allah is forbidden while the private parts are exposed during the act of relieving oneself.

Third ḥadith
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ﵄ said: “One day I climbed (1) onto the roof of Ḥafṣah’s house and saw the Prophet ﷺ relieving himself, facing toward Syria with his back to the Kaʿbah.”