Islamic Toilet Etiquette: Choosing a Private Place and Concealing Urination

Muslims have a religious obligation to observe both cleanliness, the preservation of a Muslim's own private parts, and respect for other Muslims. These aspects of etiquette can be clearly seen by studying the etiquettes of passing waste. Some sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) mentioned are:

It is a lesson from the hadith that Muslims must observe both discretion when relieving oneself and protect their bodies and clothes from any urine.

1. Privacy in the act of passing urine.

One of the aspects of the proper manners related to toilets is that when Muslims fulfill any of their individual, private requirements, it should be done away from those who have no need of being aware of that need; that is, guarding their private parts by all means. Indeed, a narration is available saying that Al-Mugheerah ibn Shu'bah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: "When The Prophet (pbuh) intends to relieve himself, he would go as far away as possible." 

This narration was also found in Sunan Abu Dawood.From this narration, we see the importance Islam places on privacy while at one's toilet so that dignity should be maintained.

 A public toilet or an outhouse, wherever available, should be ideally chosen for use, provided it does not violate other rules or create difficulty for another user. Privacy helps to avoid embarrassment. This respect should also be directed towards others, i.e. others must have the same right of privacy.

2. Protecting one's clothes, body and clothes from urinating.

It is another obligation on a Muslim not to urinate carelessly, as cleanliness is the essence in Islam and to neglect small acts like that is a form of sin. It is reported from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him):
"The Prophet (peace be upon him) came upon the inhabitants of a grave. Their torture was from urine which had been dropped on them." In a further part of the narration "One suffered because he spread ill speech and the other suffered because he had not been careful about avoiding urinating." The Prophet (peace be upon him) took a wet tree-branch and put it on each of them. In one tradition "Perhaps the torture would be reduced, so long as these two pieces of wood are not dry."

This narration is mentioned in the Book of Ablution in Sahih al-Bukhari.
What is not intended here, is that you will fall into anxiety and worry and go to extremely deep levels while urinating/passing waste by touching, or wetting or whatever it is that gets it impure. It means just simple precautions should be taken, like keeping one's dress away from urine.

3. How to follow the etiquette mentioned above.

It should not be complicated, nor should one go overboard by the teachings stated above. A few simple instructions in relation to them are: Keep your clothes away while relieving yourself; watch while urinating that not even one drop hits your clothes/body. Then after finishing, remove the waste properly.

Avoid urination points if someone is near to them. Avoid the urine points near where you sit. Let the water/cleaning medium flow well, in and around.

This will help remove any impurity remaining.

It should be a source of rest, not fear/annoyance.

4. Cleanliness and the Islamic view of personal responsibility.

Cleanliness has a special place in the life of a Muslim, closely related with the prayer, purity and overall appearance of the person and surrounding. The aforementioned narration concerning urinating suggests that neglecting the act of making sure not to urinate carelessly cannot be deemed insignificant simply because an act seems minor. 

A Muslim should strive to adopt any behavior, however small, which can impact his purity and in turn of others, yet not exaggerate and bring distress upon oneself by way of excessive worry or concern regarding one's purity; for no sensible Muslim wants to feel it the worst part of dealing with cleanliness that while cleaning one's private parts by oneself, they can even make something out there impure themselves! Parents can gently enforce these etiquettes onto their children for learning since young age, which is the normal way Islam does not make a Muslim miserable but make people disciplined.

Conclusion.

From the various traditions we can establish that when one chooses to relieve oneself or urinate, the primary guidelines as instructed by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were to conceal one's private parts and also keep their bodies clean and pure, thereby not allowing any impurity in any of the Muslim's limbs or clothes due to urine and thus a practicing Muslim will not only remain physically pure and clean, but also spiritually pure and closer to the act of remembrance of God, which requires physical purity and an attentive nature at all times.