Etiquette in the Ladies room

By Umi Wabomba

Where do I start with Muslims and toilet issues. You know those snide remarks we get that we are the most despicable people who go doing disgusting things in the toilet. We are not clean, why use water. Is it that we touch ourselves in our privates…that’s an abomination oooh!

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I had my fair share of culture shock with toilet etiquette in Islam as a new Muslim. I thought I was pretty clean with the usual use of toilet paper after visiting the toilet. Not really, it seemed with Islam. We have to use water to ensure absolute cleanliness with no residue of urine or stool on the body or on the inner clothing. In fact this a prerequisite condition before saying our daily five obligatory prayers or any other optional prayers. If a Muslim visits the toilet and doesn’t use water, he or she is unclean in the eyes of the Almighty who should be worshipped in our most pristine state. Even reading or touching the Quran is preferred when one is clean.

So here I was at the office or at the university. The washrooms are not constructed with Muslims ‘peculiar’ needs in mind. I remember wondering first where to get a small jug that I could keep away nicely so that I could use whenever I visited the toilet. I decided a small plastic water bottle would do just fine. Imagine my horror when I put away my bottle discreetly then I come the next day and find the cleaner had thrown it away as rubbish. So I am caught between starting an argument on a matter so mundane as a missing water bottle or I silently look for another one. I decided explaining was a better solution and I even received support from some cleaners who now made sure no one messed around with my bottle.

Toilet Sign

My family also joked about my insistence to go with some water in a bottle or jug or plastic can to the toilet. They teased me that did it mean they were very dirty compared to me?

As always I chose to explain through an illustration.

I asked them what happens to a baby when they pass urine or stool? They will be wiped dry first. Followed by water or wet wipes to ensure they are clean with no residue of the dirt, no foul smell then a change of diapers. So I paused my question. Who needs more water, a baby or an adult? My next question on touching our privates. What’s wrong with that if the context is to promote cleanliness? Some people find it repulsive that Muslims are not clean and they avoid shaking our hands. The truth is Muslims only use the left hand in the toilet and water is used after using toilet paper as any other person then we just add water as a final rinse. So Muslims never use their left hand in greetings or eating. It has its job.

I received endorsement of how water keeps us clean from an unexpected source. My gynecologist surprised me during one routine check-up. As she did her thing, she commented out of the blues that Muslim ladies are very clean compared to non Muslims. Her assumption was that it must be the water we use when we visit the toilet. You should have seen me nodding in agreement. We spent a good part of the session talking about Muslims and their seemingly disciplined lifestyle. I was one happy Muslim woman after that visit.

I know that some of us Muslims have perpetuated some of these misconceptions through our uncouth use of the toilets. We pour water all over the place making the sight gross. Some of us even boast about how we don’t use tissue but our bare hands and water which can be nauseating when you think about it. We owe it to ourselves and the non Muslims we interact with to show the highest stands of hygiene so that our actions speaker louder than our words.

I always get amused by the TV Adverts that encourage children to wash their hands after visiting the toilet. The message is clean hands lead to a reduction in germs hence less exposure to disease and infections. One can tell a lot of money is used to produce those elaborate adverts. And I wonder which part of the body needs washing with water and soap if need be after the toilet act. The war will have been won much earlier if we encouraged use of water in the toilet first then washing of hands thereafter would be an obvious value addition so that we don’t walk around with clean hands but soiled privates and clothing?