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Fatwa CenterThe direction of the toilet in the building does not matter
Question
Is it true that one should not sit in toilet facing Qiblah or with his back towards Qiblah? What if position of the toilet in the house is such that one cannot avoid facing Qiblah?
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. No doubt that the direction of K'aba is the most sacred direction. So one must venerate it by avoiding anything that could show a minimization of this glory and honor or could be considered as a kind of disrespect. This is why the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) ordered Muslims not to face it or turn ones back to it while urinating or passing stool. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: Do not face the Qiblah or turn your back to it while urinating or passing stool. [Reported by Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim ] This Hadith is an evidence of the prohibition of the mentioned acts. However, it is also reported in al-Bukhari and Muslim from Ibn Umar that he said: I climbed once the house of Hafsa and saw the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) urinating facing Syria and turning his back to the Qiblah. This Hadith is an evidence that it is lawful to turn one's back to Qiblah. The majority of scholars including Imams Malik , Shafi'e and Ahmad are of the opinion that it is lawful to face Qiblah while urinating or passing stool when in a building. But it is forbidden to do it when in open space. So, when one finds a toilet in a building and which faces Qiblah or turns its back to it, there is no objection to his using it. But if the toilet is in an open space he should change its direction to meet the requirements stated earlier. Abu Ayyub said: When we came to Syria we found that their toilets were built facing Qiblah. So we used to deviate while using them and used to ask Allah forgiveness for that. If the person cannot deviate, then Allah does not burden people with that which is beyond their ability. Allah knows best.
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