The Shaykh speaks about his story when their car broke down in the desert.

The Shaykh : The car carried us a reasonable distance, but it began to overheat, the radiator started to boil, and the water level dropped. Every so often, the driver had jerrycans full of water; he would refill the radiator after cooling it down and we would continue. We were with a group of travelers, and we got lost, and then... yes.

The questioner : What year was it?

The Shaykh : It was a long time ago, perhaps thirty-five or forty years ago. Yes, the point is that the car stopped, and we had not a drop of water left to drink; there was no water. What did we do? We opened the drain plug under the radiator and drained the remaining water in the radiator. It was water like tea, brown. Of course, they had put a white cloth in it, so the cloth settled on the edge of the basin, and we sipped it. It was water, and even with that, the water ran out. I lay down on the ground like this, as if I were about to give up my life—[laughter]The Shaykh : and the students—and blood began to drip from my nostrils. What were we to do? We were thirsty. It was the first time in my life, and I hope it never happens again. For the first time, I thought, what if I drink urine? I wonder if just thinking about it would solve the problem of drinking? No, I see that I might even die. It is not permissible for me to be cautious in committing what? The forbidden. When it becomes predominant in my mind that if I do not drink this impure substance, then the noble verse applies: . This is a matter of extreme precision; why? Because some young Muslims—first, they are Muslims, and praise be to Allah, that is good—but they are not well-versed in their religion. To this day, I am asked: my photo in my passport or personal ID shows me beardless, and may Allah guide me, I have let my beard grow. Now, if I go to the intelligence office, they might suspect that you were beardless and now you have grown a beard. For example, is it permissible for me to shave my beard? The answer, of course, as you heard just now, is no, it is not permissible. Why? Because you want to shave your beard to avoid being caught. Perhaps, brother, you will not be caught. How do you know that? So it is not permissible here to say that dire necessities permit the prohibited. There is no dire necessity here.