Bathroom Etiquette

So I thought I would do some research behind the things we should do in the bathroom after coming across many people who have ‘bathroom slippers’ Im sure we all or most say our duaa when entering and leaving the bathroom but is there more? Im sure there is, after a recent short listen to a cd of basic fiqh I was told that it is rude to read in the bathroom and stay longer than needed because, well this is the home of the jinn so we should only go in when we need to. So here is where my research for the night starts EnjoyAfter googling a few terms I came about this information and Im going to organise it in a practical manner in order of how things should be done insha’allah. First of all I wanted to point out a few things we should remember before entering the bathroom.

1. It is not allowed to carry anything that has Allah’s name (or any of His holy names) with him to where he is urinating.  As this is considered to be a Najis (impure) place that is not appropriate to carry or mention Allah’s name(s). That includes giving some salams in the bathroom.
2. One should not talk.  It is not appropriate for a Muslim while urinating to talk or discuss matters.  Many scholars said it is “dislike” or “Makrooh“
3. One should move and hide himself from others, as the prophet SAAWS only relieved himself when he was out of site and we should neither face nor turn his back to the “Qibla” while relieving themselves. “Salman was once asked: Your prophet teaches you everything, even how to relieve yourselves?Salman said: Certainly…. he forbade us from facing the Qiblah while doing so, from cleaning ourselves with our right hand, and from cleaning ourselves with less than three stones.  We also should not use an impure substance or a bone to clean our selves” (Muslim, Abu Dawood and At-Tirmidhy)
 

Ok, so now the order of entering the bathroom. Before entering the bathroom there is a useful duaa to be said
اللُّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْخُبْثِ وَالْخَبَائِثِ
Allaahumma inni a’oodhu bika min al-khubthi wa’l-khabaa’ith
O Allaah, I seek refuge with You from the male and female devils (Mishkat, Hisnul Hasin)
and then we should enter the bathroom with our left foot (while leaving the bathroom with our right foot)

The main issue inside a bathroom after all the things noted above is the use of istinjaa (to clean oneself after urinating) I heard on my basic fiqh lecture that toilet paper and/or water is acceptable. If you have no water in a basin it is no sin, and toilet paper is sufficient, Allahu alim (God knows best) Instead of posting the different areas that we should consider with regards to istinjaa I will post a summary and if you need clarification feel free to browse this webpage that I found the information on.

The tools to be used for istinjaa should be pure, not najiis (impure)
The prophet SAAWS asked his servant (Abdullah Ibn Masood) to bring him three stones for “Estinja”, Ibn Masood RAA only found two stones so he brought him a piece of animal’s droppings (dung) that was dry.  When the prophet saw it, he threw it away and said that it is Najasah (impure). (Bukhary: 155)
“Do not use bones for “Estinja”; they are the food for your Jinn brothers” (Muslim: 450) and (Tirmidhy: 18)

The places to be used for the bathroom should not be were people gather, sit or pass by (Muslim: 269) or in a hole in the ground that could cause harm to any animal living in the hole (Abu Dawood: 29). Nor under trees that may have fruit as this could disturb the earth for when the fruit falls, nor in shallow or non running water (Muslim: 281) 

Insha’allah this post has helped somebody out there.

Peace and Salams,
Ammena

Oh, I just found a link for the audio of many duaa too, including the bathroom duaas. Feel free to save and enjoy