Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Translated by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher
If a bathroom contains a toilet along with a shower and a sink, is it still offensive to make mention of Allah Most High in it? If so, then does a curtain in between the toilet and the rest of the bathroom suffice as a separation that would make it permissible to make mention of Allah Most High at the sink when making ablution, for example?
It seems to this impoverished soul that mentioning Allah Most High remains offensive in a bathroom that contains a sink and shower in addition to a toilet. There are two reasons for this:
(1) It still holds true that the room as a whole was built in order to relieve oneself inside it [h: and it is offensive to mention Allah Most High in any room that is built for this purpose]. The fact that other things are added to the room doesn’t cause it to cease being a place where one relieves oneself.
(2) The wisdom behind the offensiveness of mentioning the name of Allah Most High in a place where one relieves oneself is to prevent the name of Allah Most High from being mentioned in a place that does not befit it, and the presence of a sink and shower in the room does not obviate this wisdom.
It doesn’t seem that separating the toilet from the other parts of the bathroom with a curtain would constitute sufficient separation for the sink and shower area to no longer be considered a “place of relieving oneself.” However, if the toilet area is separated by a door that is shut, then this would separate the two areas [h: and it would then no longer be offensive to mention the name of Allah Most High when making ablution in the sink].
السؤال: هل يعدُّ المكانُ الذي فيه محلٌّ لقضاء الحاجة والشاور والمغسلة ممن يكرهُ فيه التلفظُ بالذِّكْر؟ وهل يكفي الستارة؛ لأن يجعل محل قضاء الحاجة محلاً مستقلاً فيجوز الذكرُ عند المغسلة؟ وإذا بسملتُ خارجَ الحمام ثم دخلت الحمامَ مباشرةً فتوضأتُ هل تحصل سنةُ البسملة أولَ الوضوء؟
الجواب: الذي يظهرُ للفقير أن الذِّكْرَ مكروهٌ في المكان الذي يجمعُ محلَّ قضاء الحاجة ومغسلة تنظيف اليدين وشاور الحمام؛ لأن تهيئةَ المكان بقصد قضاء الحاجة فيه يجعله معداً لقضاء الحاجة، فإذا صار كذلك لم يخرجه عن اسمه انضمامُ غيره إليه، وأيضاً فإن الحكمةَ التي لأجلها كره الذكرُ في مكان قضاء الحاجة قائمةٌ وهي تنـزيه وتعظيم اسم الله تعالى عن أن يُذْكَرَ في هذا المحل. أما فصلُ مكان الخلاء عن المغسلة والشاور بالستارة؛ فالظاهرُ أنه لا يفيدُ لأنه لا يعدُّ حائلاً عرفاً، بخلاف ما لو فصل مكان الاغتسال بوضعُ باب عليه كما شاهدته في بعض البيوت فالظاهرُ أنه إذا أغلق يكون حائلاً، والله أعلم.