The Mosque Urinals Were Built Facing East: What Should Be Done?

Question

In a mosque the urinals have been built facing east; while urinating and performing istinja one’s back is towards the west. The engineer and others cite another mosque as a precedent — and there, there were no knowledgeable people. A scholar declared that relieving oneself in this way is makruh tahrimi according to hadith and fiqh. Is this correct? And in view of the precedent of the other mosque, should those urinals be kept, or broken and rebuilt facing south and north?

Answer

In the noble hadith there has come a prohibition of urinating or defecating while facing the qibla or turning one’s back to it. Moreover, if in some mosque a wrong practice was adopted out of ignorance or inattention, it is wrong to cite it as a precedent; it too should be brought under the noble hadith.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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