Benefits from the hadith of the Bedouin who urinated in the mosque
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Question:
A message was received for the program from one of the listening brothers, who did not state his name. He began by saying: To the family of the program *Nur 'ala al-Darb*: I greet you with the greeting of Islam, peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings. And after that:
I am a regular listener to your program, which I hope Allah will continue for us, for it contains great benefit in clarifying matters of religion and guiding people to what is good in this world and the Hereafter. My questions are:
First question: I read in one of the books of hadith the hadith of the Bedouin who urinated in a part of the mosque, narrated from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). It mentioned among the benefits of the hadith: repelling the greater of two harms by tolerating the lesser of them, and achieving the greater of two benefits by leaving the lesser of them. I ask you to clarify the relationship between this principle and the aforementioned hadith. May Allah reward you.
Answer:
Yes, this hadith is established in the two Sahihs: "A Bedouin man entered the mosque and urinated in a part of the mosque, so the people rebuked him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Al-Bukhari also narrated it from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: When they were about to stop him, he said: And he said: Jami` at-Tirmidhi 147Sahih (Darussalam). When the Bedouin finished urinating, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that a bucket of water be poured over his urine, meaning: a bucket of water, and that was sufficient.
This indicates benefits, among which are: gentleness with the ignorant and not rushing them, and that the Muslims were sent to make things easy, not to make them difficult. And that gentleness with the ignorant is part of making things easy, while harshness with them is part of making things difficult.
Among its benefits is: that water removes ritual impurity simply by being poured over the impurity, if it has no substance, meaning it has no body. So if water is poured over it and is more than the impurity, it suffices, like the bucket over the Bedouin's urine; it sufficed. And there is no need to block that area or to move the earth, but pouring water over it is sufficient, and it becomes pure thereby.
Among the benefits of that is: that the greater harm is repelled by committing the lesser one, and that the greater benefit is achieved even if the lesser benefit is missed, as the questioner asked about. The point is: if they had forced him to stop, perhaps pieces of his urine would have splattered in many places, and perhaps he would have made himself impure, his body, and his clothes impure. And perhaps he would have been repelled from Islam and disliked entering Islam. These are great harms. And the fact that he completes his urination and then water is poured over it is easier than stopping him. Completing the urination and then pouring water over it, and teaching him with gentleness, is more beneficial and easier, with less impurity and less harm, and closer to winning his heart, to his loving his Muslim brothers, to his entering Islam, and to his desire for Islam. So the greater harm is what results from harshness and violence toward him; this is something that repels him from remaining in Islam and loving the Muslims.
And likewise, a harm results from that in terms of the scattering of the impurity in the place and its multiplication and dispersion, as well as what may affect him in his person or his clothes in terms of impurity. So it became clear that the greater benefit is in not repelling him and winning his heart, and in reducing the impurity, which takes precedence over the lesser benefit, which is rushing to stop him from urinating and preventing him from urinating. And likewise, the greater harm that results from harshness toward him, repelling him from Islam, repelling him from his Muslim brothers, and the multiplication of the impurity—this is a great harm that was left by committing the lesser one, which is letting him complete his urination. This is a lesser harm that was left and committed because that is easier than violence and harshness toward him, as mentioned. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good! Is there any matter related to general health regarding this topic, Shaykh Abdul Aziz?
The Shaykh: Yes, some scholars mentioned that this may also harm him, because: if his urination is cut off, it may harm him in terms of health. So it is beneficial for him to complete his urination and not have it cut off, because it may harm him in terms of health. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good and benefit you with your knowledge.
A message was received for the program from one of the listening brothers, who did not state his name. He began by saying: To the family of the program *Nur 'ala al-Darb*: I greet you with the greeting of Islam, peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings. And after that:
I am a regular listener to your program, which I hope Allah will continue for us, for it contains great benefit in clarifying matters of religion and guiding people to what is good in this world and the Hereafter. My questions are:
First question: I read in one of the books of hadith the hadith of the Bedouin who urinated in a part of the mosque, narrated from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). It mentioned among the benefits of the hadith: repelling the greater of two harms by tolerating the lesser of them, and achieving the greater of two benefits by leaving the lesser of them. I ask you to clarify the relationship between this principle and the aforementioned hadith. May Allah reward you.
Answer:
Yes, this hadith is established in the two Sahihs: "A Bedouin man entered the mosque and urinated in a part of the mosque, so the people rebuked him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Do not stop him
لا تزرموهDo not stop him, and he forbade them from confronting him
لا تزرموه، ونهاهم أن يتعرضوهYou have been sent to make things easy (for the people); you have not been sent to make things difficult for them.
إنما بعثتم ميسرين ولم تبعثوا معسرينThis indicates benefits, among which are: gentleness with the ignorant and not rushing them, and that the Muslims were sent to make things easy, not to make them difficult. And that gentleness with the ignorant is part of making things easy, while harshness with them is part of making things difficult.
Among its benefits is: that water removes ritual impurity simply by being poured over the impurity, if it has no substance, meaning it has no body. So if water is poured over it and is more than the impurity, it suffices, like the bucket over the Bedouin's urine; it sufficed. And there is no need to block that area or to move the earth, but pouring water over it is sufficient, and it becomes pure thereby.
Among the benefits of that is: that the greater harm is repelled by committing the lesser one, and that the greater benefit is achieved even if the lesser benefit is missed, as the questioner asked about. The point is: if they had forced him to stop, perhaps pieces of his urine would have splattered in many places, and perhaps he would have made himself impure, his body, and his clothes impure. And perhaps he would have been repelled from Islam and disliked entering Islam. These are great harms. And the fact that he completes his urination and then water is poured over it is easier than stopping him. Completing the urination and then pouring water over it, and teaching him with gentleness, is more beneficial and easier, with less impurity and less harm, and closer to winning his heart, to his loving his Muslim brothers, to his entering Islam, and to his desire for Islam. So the greater harm is what results from harshness and violence toward him; this is something that repels him from remaining in Islam and loving the Muslims.
And likewise, a harm results from that in terms of the scattering of the impurity in the place and its multiplication and dispersion, as well as what may affect him in his person or his clothes in terms of impurity. So it became clear that the greater benefit is in not repelling him and winning his heart, and in reducing the impurity, which takes precedence over the lesser benefit, which is rushing to stop him from urinating and preventing him from urinating. And likewise, the greater harm that results from harshness toward him, repelling him from Islam, repelling him from his Muslim brothers, and the multiplication of the impurity—this is a great harm that was left by committing the lesser one, which is letting him complete his urination. This is a lesser harm that was left and committed because that is easier than violence and harshness toward him, as mentioned. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good! Is there any matter related to general health regarding this topic, Shaykh Abdul Aziz?
The Shaykh: Yes, some scholars mentioned that this may also harm him, because: if his urination is cut off, it may harm him in terms of health. So it is beneficial for him to complete his urination and not have it cut off, because it may harm him in terms of health. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good and benefit you with your knowledge.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.