In the following text, the writer has endeavored to get to the source material, which is often not that easy since most original texts are in Arabic or at the least, in Urdu, which is unintelligible to most Indians. The material is presented in four parts. Undoubtedly, there are many more similar practices and the curious and resourceful would be able to get to the bottom of many such unknowns if he or she tries to do some research work on his /her own.
Item 1:Urinating in a standing position
According to the sharia’, urine is najis (or unclean). If there is any drop of urine on the body or the clothes, then it must be washed away before wadu, otherwise the prayer or namaz will not be valid. A good mussalman will have to re-read the namaz once again to get the full value of the prayer. A good mussalman needs to be very careful about this matter. Some people do not pay attention to small drops of urine on their body or clothes. This is not only unclean, but it is also a sin in Islam. Imam Bukhari has a whole chapter in his book of the Hadis on this subject and he titled it as :One of the major sins.
To explain, he said: When a person urinates in the standing position, it is very difficult to avoid drops of urine coming on the body or the clothes. It is for this reason many Islamic jurists forbid urinating in the standing position. However, if a person is sick and cannot sit down or if the place of urination is dirty, then it is permissible to urinate in a standing position.
It is reported in the Shahi Bukhari that the Prophet (SAW) went to the dumps of some people and passed urine in a standing position (Al Bukhari/Kitab al Wudu/Hadith #224). The commentators of this Hadith have explained that this was because the place was dirty. Some other commentators say that the Prophet (SAW) had some pain in his leg at the time he urinated in a standing position. However, it must be said that according to the Prophet’s youngest wife Ayesha (SAW), the Prophet (SAW) used to urinate always in a sitting position.
The rule is that Mohammedans should avoid the use of urinals but it is not totally forbidden to use urinals (for urinating in a standing position); one should be careeful not to soil the body or clothes. If there are any drops of urine on one’s body or clothes, then the drops should be washed away. There is no need to take a bath or shower (ghusl). That is a relief!
Item 2:Urinating in the air
There have recently been some requests by many Mohammedan air passwngers to modify toilet installations in airplanes to suit Islamic practices. Responding to this question, the Aviation Minister of Pakistan told the house that it was absolutely NOT possible to make any modification in the existing fleet of aircraft to facilitate Hajis traveling between Karachi and Jeddah who might suffer some inconveniences while using European style toilet and water basin.
When pressed for modifications to suit Mohammedan passengers, the Minister said that the PIA will ‘investigate the possibility of restructuring toilets of the new fleet to be inducted in the airline in the future’. However, the Minister hastened to point out that ‘desi’ toilets and showers are available in the departure and arrival lounges of both Jeddah and Karachi airports and all passengers are free to use them. After all the flight between Jeddah and Karachi lasts only four hours.
Item 3:The Joy of fasting
It is not realized by many (both Mohammedan and non-Mohammedan) that the fasting undertaknen during the month of Ramazan, by the faithful, is not based on the number of hours in a day of 24 hours. It is based on the time period between sunrise and sunset. Those among us who do not go by the ‘flat earth theory’ know that the time period between sunrise and sunset varies from latitude to latitude. It only means that the length of a day varies depending how close or far one is from the two poles, the north and the south.
It is thus quite clear that those who reside near the equator have more or less a twelve-hour day. Mohammedans living in those areas must fast nearly twelve hours a day during the month of Ramazan. Not so for Mohammedans living in New York for instance. They can get away with a seven and a half hour long fast. At the north or south poles, near Kamchatka or Adelaide in Australia, the rigors of fasting will be even less strenuous.
Will the credit for fasting will be calculated accordingly? That is question none of the Hadith-masters seem to have told us yet!
Item 4:Urinating during the ritual of raising buttocks in the air
(The following text in Roman Urdu has been taken from the Urdu original, first appearing in the Akhbar-i-Watan of London, dated 24-31 October, 1990. It tells us about, among many other things, what are the hazards that can nullify the good effects of the namaz.)
Namaz ka tareeqa
Agar ek shakhs ko yeh dahm hone lagta hai keh doran-i-namaz men us ki riyah kharij ho gayi, ya peshab ka qatra nikal gaya ya aur naqas wazu yane wazu ko tod denewali harkat sarzad ho gayi to us dahm ki shuru ki nagah men koi ahmiyat nahin jab tak woh shakhs apne dahm ko haqiqat na mahsoos kar le maslan agar woh akhraj riyah ki awaz sunta hai, us ki boo mahsoos karta hai ya peshab ke qatra ki nami dekhta hai, to beshak use az sar to taharat karni padegi lekin agar woh nami nahin dekhta, awaz nahin sunta, boo nahin mahsoos karta to us ki namaz jayez ho jaegi aur use wazu karne ki zarurat, na namaz ke todne, aur dohrane ki.
(Easy English rendering of the above)
If some one feels that during namaz prayers, one unintentionally broke wind or a few drops of urine escaped or some such other mishap took place then ordinarily one’s namaz becomes uselss. One has to, under normal cirumstances, read one’s namaz a second time. However, even under such circumstances, if while breaking wind, the namazi feels that he has not heard the sound that usually accompanies such accidents, or if he has not felt any bad smell or if the supposed drops of urine did not manifest themselves in the wetness of his clothes, then he does not have to repeat his namaz.
By: Truth Detector
