If the place for relieving oneself in our homes faces the qiblah, what should we do?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The second question says: If the place for relieving oneself in our homes faces the qiblah, what should we do? And likewise, if we are traveling, when relieving oneself, do we turn our backs to the qiblah? It seems the question is about traveling, even in a place, meaning, for example, in a hotel or in...
The Shaykh : ...between walls?
The questioner : Between walls.
The Shaykh : The correct view in this issue, which has been the subject of much disagreement in the past and present, is that there is no difference between walls and the open desert, due to the generality of his statement (peace and blessings be upon him):. The narrator of the hadith is Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, who said: "When we went to Sham, we found the latrines facing or directed toward the qiblah, so we seek forgiveness from Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He". — Ruh, look, Muhammad — so we seek forgiveness from Allah. This contains a benefit, which is that the narrator of the hadith is more aware of what he narrated than others. So he narrated the general ruling and acted upon it, because he said he found the latrines there in Sham, which are naturally in buildings, and he said: "We seek forgiveness from Allah".
So the answer to the question, first: is to follow the statement of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the narrator of the hadith.
Second: If the house is owned by the people living in it, they must make the necessary repairs so that they are not forced to violate the ruling and settle for seeking forgiveness. This is the answer, this is in response to your desire for brevity.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : ...between walls?
The questioner : Between walls.
The Shaykh : The correct view in this issue, which has been the subject of much disagreement in the past and present, is that there is no difference between walls and the open desert, due to the generality of his statement (peace and blessings be upon him):
When you go to the place of relief or the privy, do not face the qiblah with your urine or excrement, but go east or west.
إذا أتيتم الخلاء أو الغائط فلا تستقبلوا القبلة ببول أو غائط ولكن شرقوا أو غربواSo the answer to the question, first: is to follow the statement of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the narrator of the hadith.
Second: If the house is owned by the people living in it, they must make the necessary repairs so that they are not forced to violate the ruling and settle for seeking forgiveness. This is the answer, this is in response to your desire for brevity.
The questioner : Yes.