Muslim bathroom etiquette


Islamic shareeah includes a number of rules and manners to be followed when answering the call of nature, including the following:

1.Not to face the qiblah (direction of prayer, i.e. the Kabah which was built in Makkah by Ibrahim, upon whom be peace, as commanded by Allaah) when urinating or defecating. This is out of respect for the Qiblah and for the symbols and rituals of Allaah. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: When any one of you sits down to answer the call of nature, he should not face the qiblah or turn his back towards it.(Reported by Muslim, 389).

2.He should not touch his penis with his right hand when urinating, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: When any one of you urinates, he should not hold his penis in his right hand or clean it with his right hand; and (when drinking), he should not breathe into the vessel.(Reported by al-Bukhaari, 150).

3.  He should not remove najaasah (impurity) with his right hand; the left hand should be used for this purpose, because of the hadeeth quoted above, and because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: When any one of you wipes himself, he should not use his right hand(Reported by al-Bukhaari, 5199). 

The Prophet's wife Hafsah (may Allaah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to use his right hand for eating, drinking, making wudoo, getting dressed, and giving and taking things, and he used to use his left hand for other things.(Reported by Imaam Ahmad).

4.  The Sunnah is to answer the call of nature sitting, making oneself close to the ground, because this is more concealing, and makes it less likely that spray from one's urine will come back on ones body or clothes, making them dirty. If a person can be sure of avoiding this, then it is permissible to urinate standing up.

5. A person should be concealed from the sight of others when answering the call of nature. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to prefer to go behind a rise in the ground or a garden of date palms. (Reported by Muslim, 517). If a person is out in an open space and cannot find anything to conceal him when he needs to answer the call of nature, he should move far away from the other people around him.

6. A person should not uncover his awrah (private parts) until after he has squatted close to the ground. If a person is in a (modern) toilet, he should not lift his garment until he has closed the door and is out of sight of other people.

7. He should be careful to remove all impurity after answering the call of nature, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) warned against being careless in cleaning oneself after urinating: Ibn Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with them both) reported that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) passed by two graves, and said: They are being punished, but they are not being punished for any major sin. One of them used not to protect himself (i.e. keep himself clean from) his urine, and the other used to walk about spreading malicious gossip. (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 5592).

8. Any impurity should be washed or wiped three times or an odd number of times greater than three, according to whatever is needed to cleanse it, because Aaishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to wash his posterior three times. Ibn Umar said: We did this too and found it to be healing and cleansing. (Reported by Ibn Maajah, 350; see also Saheeh al-Jaami, 4993).

9. A person should not urinate into stagnant water, because Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade anyone to urinate into stagnant water (reported by Muslim, 423), and because this makes the water impure and harms those who use it.


A person should not urinate by the roadside or in places where people seek shade, because this is offensive to them.

10. It is also good manners according to Shareeah to recite certain athkaar (supplications) when entering or leaving the toilet.

▫️Whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) went to answer the call of nature, he used to say, "Allah-umma inni a`uthu bika minal khubuthi wal khaba'ith i.e. O Allah, I seek Refuge with You from all offensive and wicked things (evil deeds and evil spirits).[Sahih al-Bukhari ]