Some people say that if a shoe is found upside down, the angels do not enter that house, or that Allah does not look upon that house.
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The questioner : Some people say that if a shoe is found upside down, the angels do not enter that house, or that Allah does not look upon that house. What do you say about this matter?
The Shaykh : We say that this is not true. I am not aware of any harm in a sandal being upside down. However, this is a serious matter in the eyes of people. It may be serious in the eyes of people, yet have no basis. This is one example among others.
Another example is urinating while standing. Some of the common people are very strict about this, to the point that they consider a person to have left Islam if he urinates while standing. This is an error. It is established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) urinated while standing. The scholars said: There is no harm in urinating while standing, provided that one is safe from contamination by urine and safe from the view of onlookers. That is, if there is no one around and one does not fear being contaminated by urine, there is no harm in urinating while standing, and there is no dislike in it. This is especially so if one needs to do so, such as if he has knee pain that makes sitting difficult; in that case, there is no problem with its permissibility.
The Shaykh : We say that this is not true. I am not aware of any harm in a sandal being upside down. However, this is a serious matter in the eyes of people. It may be serious in the eyes of people, yet have no basis. This is one example among others.
Another example is urinating while standing. Some of the common people are very strict about this, to the point that they consider a person to have left Islam if he urinates while standing. This is an error. It is established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) urinated while standing. The scholars said: There is no harm in urinating while standing, provided that one is safe from contamination by urine and safe from the view of onlookers. That is, if there is no one around and one does not fear being contaminated by urine, there is no harm in urinating while standing, and there is no dislike in it. This is especially so if one needs to do so, such as if he has knee pain that makes sitting difficult; in that case, there is no problem with its permissibility.