Why should one enter the toilet with the left foot and say audhu… bismillahi…?

- Why should one exit with the right foot and say Alhamdulillah?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Answer 1:

By the word “toilet”, we should not necessarily understand the modern meaning of the word. Instead of the word “khala” referred to in hadiths in the sense of “going out”, we now call that place a toilet. In a hadith, Anas (ra) states the following:

“The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used to take off his ring (with the inscription “Muhammadur-Rasulullah” on it) while going to the toilet (latrine).” (Naylul-Awtar, 1/73)

The latrine was sometimes covered with a sheet. When somebody went behind it, he was said to have gone to the toilet. Even in the desert, there was a difference in the place where the call of nature was answered. For example, in the hadith sources there are expressions such as “when he entered the latrine, when he left the latrine”. This in and out is used in relation to the place of the latrine. Maybe the hadith scholars used these expressions thinking of the indoor toilets they saw later on. Bukhari points to half narrations that say “he went to the latrine, he entered the latrine” (Bukhari, Wudu’, 9). Muslim also included the expressions, “He went to the latrine, he went to kanaf” (Hayd, 122). Again, the expression “He came out of the latrine” is mentioned (Hayd, 118).

The issue of entering the toilet with the left foot and exiting with the right foot is taken from the principle of the Prophet’s (pbuh) “using the right hand for honorable things and the left hand for vulgar things” and is considered as a good manner and a sunnah in fiqh sources (see Ghazali, Ihya, 1/136; W. Zuhayli, 1/203).

Answer 2:

On the Day of Judgment, Allah will give the books of His servants whom He has chosen as good to their right hand and the books of those whom He has given bad marks to their left hand. In the Quran, the good people who will go to Paradise are referred to as “Ashab al-yamin = owners of the right hand” and those who will go to hell are referred to as “Ashab ash-shimal = owners of the left hand”. This evaluation shows that the right hand/right side has a value in the sight of Allah.

It is due to such reasons that the Prophet (pbuh) preferred the right to the left and entered good places such as mosques with his right foot and entered places such as toilets with his left foot. The exits were the opposite. You can compare other known matters to it.

According to a narration of Hafsa (ra), one of the wives of the Prophet (pbuh), the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used his right hand to eat, drink, make wudu and wear his clothes, give and take something; he used his left hand to do other things. (Musnad, 6/287; Abu Dawud, Taharah, 18)

Aisha (ra), one of the wives of the Prophet (pbuh) said,

“The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used his right hand to clean himself, eat and drink. He used his left hand to clean his private parts and to do other disturbing things.” (Musnad, 6/156; Abu Dawud, Taharah, 18)

Suraqa b. Malik b. Ju’shum came from the mosque of the Prophet and said, “The Messenger of Allah taught us this and that.” Somebody who was there made fun of him and asked, “Does he also teach you how to go to toilet?” Thereupon, Suraqa b. Malik said, “Yes, I swear by Allah who sent him as the true prophet that he ordered us to lean to the left side on the toilet and to hold the right foot straight.” (Tabarani, al-Mu’jamul-Kabir, VII, 136; Majmauz-Zawaid, I, 206)

When the narrations are taken into consideration, it is understood that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used his right hand to do certain deeds and his left hand to do other deeds. (see Musnad, 6/287; Abu Dawud, Libas, 44)

According to the narrations above and similar ones, it is mustahab to use the right hand (foot, etc.) to wear clothes, hats and khuffs, to enter the mosque, to use miswak, to apply kohl, to trim nails, to shorten the mustache, to comb hair, to shave under the arms, to cut hair, to salute at the end of the prayer, to wash the organs in wudu, to exit the toilet, to eat, to drink, to shake hands, to greet hajar al-aswad and to do similar deeds; it is mustahab to use the left hand (foot, etc.) to enter the toilet, to exit the mosque, to blow one’s nose, to clean one’s private parts, to take off clothes, hats and khuffs.

It is mustahab to say audhu… bismillahi… before entering the toilet, and, to say the following prayer (dua) if one knows it:

“Allahumma inni audhu bika minal khubthi wal khabaith.= O Allah! I seek protection in you from the male and female unclean spirits.” (Bukhari, Wudu’, 9, Daawat, 14; Muslim, Hayd, 122, 123)

Prayer to say after exiting the toilet:

“Ghufranaka, alhamdu lillahilladhi adhaba annil adha wa afani = O Allah! I seek your forgiveness. All praises are due to Allah who has taken away from me the discomfort and granted me comfort.” (Ibn Majah, Taharah, 10; Tirmidhi, Tibb, 32)

Answer 3:

We call all that our Prophet (pbuh) did, spoke, behaved and acted sunnah. So, we can call everything he did throughout his life sunnah.

The word sunnah used in fiqh books, on the other hand, means “if we do it, there is a reward and if we do not do it, there is no sin.”

For example, eating with the right hand, cleaning the teeth, not eating while standing. However, if we take the word sunnah in its broad sense, it includes everything that the Prophet (pbuh) did. In that case, Allah’s demands and prohibitions are also included in the sunnah. For example, did the Prophet (pbuh) perform prayers? Yes, he did. Then, performing prayers is also a sunnah. In that case, it will be necessary to divide the sunnah into sections.

Fard ones: Anything that Allah wants us to do or abandon. Our Prophet is the best example and the best practitioner of Allah’s commands and prohibitions. By following him, we follow him to the highest degree. Such as performing prayers, fasting, not committing fornication, not eating haram, etc.

Wajib ones: The wajibs of our religion. For example, it is wajib to perform three rak’ahs of the night prayer.

Nafilah ones: They are the things we do while performing deeds of worship other than fards and wajibs. For example, it is fard to read some chapters or verses of the Quran while performing a prayer but it is nafilah to read subhanaka supplication.

Adabs: They are also called good manners (etiquette). If we follow the Prophet (pbuh) in our daily activities such as eating, going to bed, going to and from the mosque, going to and from the toilet, etc., we will be doing them in accordance with their etiquette.

In other words, we can divide the Sunnah into fard, wajib, nafilah and adab. The highest and most virtuous sunnah is in this order. We can think of it like the body of a human being. A human being has organs necessary for life: The brain, the heart, the head and so on. In the principles we need to believe, the brain of our spirit is like the heart. Our body has sensory organs such as eyes, ears, hands and feet. Fards are like that. They are the eyes, ears, hands and feet of our spirit. A person who does not do fards is incomplete like a person without hands, feet, eyes and ears. Our body also has beauties and ornaments such as fingers, eyebrows and hair. We can live without them. However, when we have them, we become more perfect human beings.

Similarly, the nafilah and adab parts of the sunnah are the beauties and ornaments of our spirit. There is a lot of thawab if we do them and no sin if we do not do them.

To sum up, fard and wajib parts are sunnahs that must be done. As for nafilahs and adabs, there is a lot of thawab if we do them. As for harams, we need to protect our spirits from harams that kill and poison just as we protect our bodies from things that kill, such as AIDS, poison and fire.

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