Muslim toilet etiquette

[LoopyLoopsOlympicHoops]

Please explain to me a few things. With the water hose thing, how do people dry themselves? There is rarely any paper.

My landlord (lady actually I presume) left, amongst other things, disposable knickers in the bathroom. Is this common or quirky?

The squatting on the toilet seat thing. Footprints. Why?

Sorry, I sound so intolerant today - don't mean to be, just flummoxed. :)

[BrittaPerry]

There are toilets in some museums that seem to have a wa of squirting your bum (in Newcastle). I'm always too scared to try!

[AtaleOfTwoCities]

The not drying thing is not an Islamic practice. I think they just run out of toilet paper in public places maybe? although maybe in the far east this is a practice? Not necessarily an Islamic one? in Thailand they have hoses by the toilet and it is not an Islamic country. They are very clean there though. The knickers thing I've never heard ofor seen, I've been around many countries in the middle east and many Muslim homes, jugs/hoses plus toilet paper are the norm.

[yellowraincoat]

Well, we don't really have bidets. Go to Europe and they are really common, most people have them or they are certainly not an unusual sight. Apart from hotels, I don't think I've ever seen one here.

[yellowraincoat]

ATaleofTwoCities, it's not about running out of toilet paper. At least in Saudi Arabia, it's about the system not being able to handle paper.

[OwlLady]

we had bidets in the 80s :o

[LoopyLoopsOlympicHoops]

A bidet isn't the same though

[AtaleOfTwoCities]

Thanks yellow - Yes that's fine, any other reason but not that's it's an Islamic thing not to dry, you'd have wet knickers then and I can't imagine that being very comfy. Muslims do use toilet paper.

[ForFoxsGlacierMints]

This has been an education

[yellowraincoat]

I don't think it's anything to do with being Muslim, more to do with what different countries do, surely.

I mean, every Muslim I know in this country just has toilet paper.

[zeldapinwheel]

My DP is a plumber, and while I was in labour he got chatting to the consultant, who was Muslim from Egypt. 2 weeks later he spent a profitable few days plumbing squat toilets and hose pipes in Mr. Consultants large and many en-suited house. Also got recommended to some of his friends for the same thing.

[maybenow]

i wouldn't use paper to dry as the plumbing might not be designed for it.
in india with the wee jug of water instead of paper i just had a little splash and it was fine because it was so hot.

[LoopyLoopsOlympicHoops]

Oh yellow, not muslims I know in the UK. I have two friends with jugs (as it were).

[PenisVanLesbian]

Calm down Owlady and rein it it.
the toilets in France don't have hoses, do they? And bidets are different again

[OwlLady]

maybe I am confused then. I thought the squatting toilets in france with the raised footprints and the hole was the same

and I don't understand why wanting to wash your bum is wrong and how that is so different from a bidet anyway

I don't think it's a wild diversion from the thread and I am calm thanks :)

[yellowraincoat]

It's not "wrong" to want to wash your arse, who on earth has said that?

The difference is that in a lot of countries there is no toilet roll. So you wash and then...and then...what? Drip dry? Air dry? Have a big old wet arse?

[OwlLady]

i suppose it's warmer in most places apart from britain. Dh always took his own toilet roll when he worked in india though and loads of immodium

[yellowraincoat]

Not always though, OwlLady, Riyadh in February is only 10 degrees or whatever. And it's bloody freezing at night sometimes.

[maybenow]

nobody has a problem with washing bums, in fact the OP and almost everybody else on this thread thinks it's a good idea, they just don't know how you dry your bum after...

[OwlLady]

worse than wales?

[OwlLady]

I apologise, I am guilty of skim reading

[MrsBucketxx]

flippin heck loopy what a hoo ha about nothing.

if mn really thought it was racist the thread would have been pulled by now.

[fernzmal]

I could not help but to notice this topic! I am a Malaysian Muslim, and while I can't really answer the OP's original questions as I use both a bum-spray thing AND toilet paper, I don't know what the disposable knickers are for, and squatting on western-style toilet seats is just downright rude and uncivilised even in Malaysia (I assume the OP was talking about western-style toilets when she mentioned the footprints thing, otherwise if it's the old-stylee asian hole in the floor then obviously there would be footprints...) although lots of people do it, there are a couple of things that i just had to respond to...
The left hand is always for the toilet, and the right hand is for eating with. Makes sense not to cross-contaminate :D
Muslim women are definitely allowed in mosques, but they are usually separated in the womens section while the men pray in the mens section. BUT Friday prayers in mosques are compulsory ONLY FOR MEN (this is usually around 1.30pm in Malaysia), so this might explain one of the mners noticing only men coming out of that mosque that day?
Just fyi, I would think that different Muslim countries conduct weddings differently, especially as there are two different branches of Islam, Sunni and Shia, much like Catholics and Protestants etc etc. In Malaysia, Muslim men and women celebrate weddings together, and are not separated by gender, altho perhaps for solemnisations that happen to take place in a mosque, the men may sit together in a group and the women sit together. But after that they would go and eat together.
As for the women in the mall, it sounded like they were indeed performing ablutions for prayers, perhaps there is a small prayer room somewhere nearby.
HTH

[fernzmal]

ForFoxsGlacierMints, I am impressed by the detailed thoroughness of that article...I don't know how to use a squat toilet properly...

[LoopyLoopsOlympicHoops]

Oh fernzmal, thank you so much for your post, it really helped. The leaving the mosque thing was a Friday, so that makes sense. Thank you :)

[fernzmal]

Glad to be of help. I reread the thread (sorry, was a bit sleepy when I read it last night and missed a lot of things) and I notice you're in Bangsar! I'm guessing you do your shopping at Bangsar Village? And I guess you passed by the Bangsar mosque? :D By the way, just wanted to add that practically all of the shopping centres in KL have prayer rooms for Muslims to pray. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!~