Benefits of the Hadith (The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade us from facing the qiblah while relieving ourselves of urine or feces . . . ).

The Shaykh : In this hadith, there is a clarification of the comprehensiveness of the Islamic Shari'ah for everything people need, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us even how to relieve ourselves, taught us the etiquettes of eating, the etiquettes of drinking, the etiquettes of sleeping, the etiquettes of entering and leaving the house, and the etiquettes of clothing. There is nothing we need that he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not teach us, in order to fulfill the saying of Allah the Exalted: , and His saying: .
If the Islamic religion and the Islamic Shari'ah have clarified even these minor matters, then other matters are all the more so. Therefore, those who said that the verses and hadiths regarding the attributes do not have a known meaning, and that they delegate the meaning, are in error. They have committed the greatest error. It is said: Glory be to Allah, you now acknowledge that the story of Pharaoh, Haman, Qarun, and others of the tyrants of the world, and the stories of the righteous, are all understood in meaning by you, but what Allah mentioned about Himself is unknown to you, in the position of the letters of the alphabet? How can this be?
Everything people need regarding their Lord, their worship, their transactions, and their conditions is clear. However, people differ; some are given by Allah the Exalted broad knowledge that encompasses much of the Sunnah, some are below that, and some are given by Allah the Exalted penetrating understanding, understanding what they hear and read, and some people are below that. And the favor of Allah is given to whom He wills.
The student: .

The Shaykh : You have done well. May Allah reward you with good. Yes.
Among the benefits of this hadith is the prohibition of facing the qiblah while relieving oneself of urine or feces, based on his saying: , and the original ruling in prohibition is that it is forbidden.
Among the benefits of this hadith is the permissibility of facing the sun and the moon. How is that?
Because the people of Madinah, if they do not face the qiblah, will face the east or the west, and at that time they will be facing either the sun or the moon. I mentioned this because some of the scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, said that it is disliked for a person to face the sun or the moon, and they justified it with a weak, contradictory justification. They said: Because there is light in the sun and the moon, the light of Allah in them makes them respected.
But we say: First, it is not permissible to establish legal rulings with such a justification. Second, it is a contradictory justification; the stars also have light. Who illuminated them?
Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. Do we say to a person: Do not face the stars? If we say: Do not face the stars, how will he sit?
Because the stars are to his right and to his left, in front of him and behind him. Therefore, I mentioned that so it is known that what some of the jurists, may Allah have mercy on them, said in this matter is a weak statement with no evidence for it.
Among the benefits of this hadith is the prohibition of cleaning oneself with the right hand. If we say that facing the qiblah is forbidden, then we must say that this is forbidden, because the hadith is one, and the general rule is that issues placed in one hadith have one ruling. I say: the general rule, but this is not necessary. For Allah the Exalted said: : He mentioned horses, mules, and donkeys, even though horses are lawful, and mules and donkeys are forbidden. There is no consideration for the indication of association, because it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the Companions slaughtered a horse in his presence in Madinah, and he approved them for this.
The important point is that if we do not find a factor that diverts the prohibition to dislike in cleaning oneself with the right hand, then it is obligatory that it be for prohibition.
If someone asks: What if a person is paralyzed in his left hand?
We say: In that case, he is compelled to clean himself with the right hand, and Allah the Exalted said: .
Among the benefits of this hadith is the honoring of the right hand, and it is so, the honoring of the right hand. For this reason, the jurists, may Allah have mercy on them, stated an important rule in that regard, saying: "The left hand is brought forward for harm, and the right hand is for everything else". The left hand is brought forward for harm, such as cleaning oneself, sneezing, washing dirt, and the like, and the right hand is for everything else.
Among the benefits of this hadith is the permissibility of cleaning oneself with stones, based on his saying: , as it indicates that three or more are permissible for cleaning oneself. Among the benefits of this hadith is that it is not permissible to limit cleaning oneself to less than three, even if the place becomes pure; three are necessary. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
Among the benefits of this hadith is that if one cleans oneself with a stone that has branches, that is permissible, because every branch is in the position of a stone. Some of the scholars said: It is not permissible with a branched stone, because the hadith is: , but this statement is a rigid adherence to the wording. The intention of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with three stones is not to wipe with one side twice or more, but rather that each side has a wipe, either with three stones or with a branched stone. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not mention the branched stone because this may be rare, that a person finds a stone with three parallel branches such that when he wipes with one branch, the other does not become soiled. This is rare.
Among the benefits of this hadith is the prohibition of cleaning oneself with dung. What is dung?
The student: Dung.

The Shaykh : Dung, because if the dung is pure, it is the feed of the jinn, and if it is impure, the impure does not purify.
As you know, dung is divided into two categories according to the stronger opinion: pure, which is the dung of animals that are eaten, and impure, which is the dung of animals that are not eaten.
Among the benefits of this hadith is the prohibition of cleaning oneself with bones, based on his saying: , whether these bones are bones of carrion, or bones of ritually slaughtered animals, or bones of animals whose eating is permissible, or not permissible. Because if the bones are bones of carrion, they are impure according to the majority of scholars, and if they are impure, the impure cannot purify. If they are ritually slaughtered, they are the food of the jinn, and it is not lawful for us to transgress against them by spoiling their food. If the bone is from an animal that is not eaten, it is impure, and the impure does not purify.
If someone asks: Do you analogize to this the prohibition of cleaning oneself with the feed of human animals? The answer is: Yes, we analogize it with a clear and obvious analogy, because if it is not permissible to spoil the feed of the jinn, and they are a hidden world, then the feed of human animals is all the more so.
If someone asks: Do you analogize to the prohibition of cleaning oneself with bone, cleaning oneself with human food, such as meat, for example, or bread, or the like?
The answer is: Yes, by the clearest and most obvious analogy, because if spoiling the food of the jinn is forbidden, then spoiling the food of humans is all the more so.
If someone asks: Do you permit a person to clean himself with something other than stones that removes the harm?
The answer is: Yes, we permit that. So if a person cleans himself with pure, purifying napkins, there is no harm.
And if he cleans himself with a piece of wood, there is no harm. And if he cleans himself with mudr, which is dry clay, there is no harm either. And if he cleans himself with a glass, how?
The student: It is not permissible.

The Shaykh : It is not permissible. Why?
Because it does not purify due to its smoothness, so it is not permissible to clean oneself with what does not purify. And if he cleans himself with a wet stone that does not purify, why?
Because it does not purify and does not dry.
If someone asks: If it does not purify with three, I mean: cleaning with stones, is it necessary to add a fourth? Yes, it is necessary to add a fourth. And if it purifies with a fourth, it is better to add a fifth, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): .
Among the benefits of the hadith—and I forgot to mention it—is the prohibition of transgressing against the right of another, due to the prohibition of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) from cleaning oneself with dung or bone. Is that not so?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, it is so. If it is forbidden for humans to transgress against the jinn, then it is forbidden for the jinn to transgress against humans. For this reason, the scholars to whom Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, granted strength in faith used to rebuke the jinn who overpower humans and say to them: This is forbidden for you and a transgression, and Allah the Exalted does not love those who transgress. Perhaps Allah will guide this jinn and it will come out, or it may not come out, but the point is that transgression is forbidden from humans to jinn and from jinn to humans.