The wisdom behind the prohibition of spitting in the direction of the qiblah.
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The Shaykh : As for looking: It is clear that the prohibition of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding urinating, defecating, and spitting in the direction of the qiblah is out of respect for this direction toward which we face in our prayers. Just as our facing in prayer makes no difference between the desert and a building, these walls do not prevent us from achieving the fact that we have faced the Ka'bah in our prayer. Likewise, if one urinates, defecates, or spits inside a building, that does not mean he did not do it in the direction of the qiblah.
Therefore, the intended meaning of all these hadiths is to magnify this direction toward which we face in our worship, in our prayer. We should protect it from directing any of these disgusting and reprehensible things toward it. From this, we said that the statement takes precedence over the action, and the prohibitive takes precedence over the permissive, because the action is surrounded by several possibilities. We mentioned earlier that it is possible that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when it was seen that he did something contrary to what he prohibited the community from doing, did so because of the narrowness of the space. It is possible that it was before the prohibition. It is possible that he had a specific circumstance, as specific circumstances came to him.
One of the clearest examples is that he (peace and blessings be upon him) died while having nine wives under his protection, whereas when that man came to him when he embraced Islam and had nine women under his protection, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: This is a statement that we should adopt. As for his (peace and blessings be upon him) action, it was one of his specific circumstances.
Based on these principles, we can resolve much of the apparent contradiction that may seem to a student of knowledge at first glance between some of the hadiths, some of which are verbal and some of which are practical.
One such matter is the prohibition of drinking while standing, and the fact that he (peace and blessings be upon him) drank while standing. The result is that the statement takes precedence over the action here for two reasons: that it is prohibitive on one hand, and that it is a statement on the other hand. This is the summary of what can be mentioned.
Therefore, the intended meaning of all these hadiths is to magnify this direction toward which we face in our worship, in our prayer. We should protect it from directing any of these disgusting and reprehensible things toward it. From this, we said that the statement takes precedence over the action, and the prohibitive takes precedence over the permissive, because the action is surrounded by several possibilities. We mentioned earlier that it is possible that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when it was seen that he did something contrary to what he prohibited the community from doing, did so because of the narrowness of the space. It is possible that it was before the prohibition. It is possible that he had a specific circumstance, as specific circumstances came to him.
One of the clearest examples is that he (peace and blessings be upon him) died while having nine wives under his protection, whereas when that man came to him when he embraced Islam and had nine women under his protection, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him:
He retained four of them and divorced the rest.
أمسك أربعا منهن وطلق سائرهنBased on these principles, we can resolve much of the apparent contradiction that may seem to a student of knowledge at first glance between some of the hadiths, some of which are verbal and some of which are practical.
One such matter is the prohibition of drinking while standing, and the fact that he (peace and blessings be upon him) drank while standing. The result is that the statement takes precedence over the action here for two reasons: that it is prohibitive on one hand, and that it is a statement on the other hand. This is the summary of what can be mentioned.