Daily living skill
Using the toilet
The toilet step by step, with a Muslim's manners: the dua before going in, the left foot in, cleaning with water, the right foot out.
The steps (11 steps)
Step 1: I say the dua before I go in.
Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 142; Sahih Muslim 375
Step 2: I go in with my left foot first.
Step 3: I pull down my trousers and underwear.
Step 4: I sit on the toilet.
Step 5: I do my wee or poo in the toilet.
Step 6: I clean myself with water.
I use my left hand.
Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 150 and 153; Sahih Muslim 267 and 271
Step 7: I pat myself dry with toilet paper.
Step 8: I pull up my underwear and trousers.
Step 9: I flush the toilet.
If the flush is loud, I can cover my ears.
Step 10: I wash my hands with soap.
Step 11: I come out with my right foot first.
Then I say: "Ghufranak" (I ask You for forgiveness).
Source: Sunan Abi Dawud 30, graded sahih by al-Albani
For grown-ups
Keep the steps by the toilet, with a jug or a bidet spray in reach. Praise each step, not only the end.
Before going in, the Prophet ﷺ asked Allah for protection with the dua on the dua page, and when he came out he said "Ghufranak" (I ask You for forgiveness).Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 142; Sahih Muslim 375; Sunan Abi Dawud 30, graded sahih by al-Albani
The Prophet ﷺ cleaned himself with water after the toilet, and taught us not to use the right hand for it.Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 150; Sahih Muslim 271; Sahih al-Bukhari 153; Sahih Muslim 267
Going in with the left foot and coming out with the right is a manner taught by scholars. No hadith about the toilet names the foot: it comes from the Prophet's way ﷺ of starting good things with the right, and of keeping his right hand for clean things and his left for the toilet.Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 426; Sunan Abi Dawud 33, graded sahih by al-Albani
Sources
- Sahih al-Bukhari 142
- Sahih Muslim 375
- Sahih al-Bukhari 150
- Sahih al-Bukhari 153
- Sahih Muslim 267
- Sahih Muslim 271
- Sunan Abi Dawud 30, graded sahih by al-Albani
- Sahih al-Bukhari 426
- Sunan Abi Dawud 33, graded sahih by al-Albani
Faith lines come only from the Quran and from hadith graded sahih or hasan. Scholars differ on some details, so ask a scholar you trust.
Pictograms: Sergio Palao, ARASAAC (arasaac.org), Government of Aragón, under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA licence.