What Is the Ruling of Urinating Standing?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

What is the ruling of urinating standing?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

Ruling

Urinating while standing is considered leaving that which is better (khilaf al-awla). This is a lesser distinction than somewhat disliked (makruh tanzihan).

However, if there is a likelihood of urine splashing on one’s clothes, the ruling will rise to makruh. If the likelihood is high, then makruh tahriman. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]

If one has a legal excuse for standing, such as the inability to sit due to pain or the fear of more exposure to impurity, then there is no issue to urinate standing. One should be cautious of splashing in all cases. [Ibid.]

It was narrated that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) entered the refuse area of a tribe and urinated standing. Then he called for some water and wiped over his leather socks. [Abu Dawud]

Reasons

When commenting on this narration in his commentary of the Sunan of Abu Dawud, Imam Nawawi (Allah have mercy on him) says, “There are likely a few reasons why the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) urinated standing:  [Nawawi, al-Ijaz fi Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud]

• Imam Shafi‘i and some of his students mentioned that the Arabs would urinate while standing when they were suffering from a back injury. [Ibid.]
  A weakly authenticated narration from Bayhaqi on the authority of Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) urinated standing due to some injury to the back of his knee. [Ibid.]
• That the place was such that he could not sit down. This was either due to the raised ground to his sides or due to impurities that he would be exposed to by sitting. [Ibid.]
• That he urinated standing to legislate its permissibility and to clarify that it is not strictly prohibited (haram). [Ibid.]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he went on to study at Darul Uloom Seminary in New York and completed his studies at Darul Mustafa in Tarim, Yemen.

There, he completed the memorization of the Quran and his study of Islamic Sciences. Throughout his years of study, he was blessed to learn from many great scholars: Habib Umar bin Hafiz, Habib Kazhim al-Saqqaf, Shaykh ‘Umar bin Husayn al-Khatib, and others.

Upon returning, he joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.