How to do Istinja

Doing Istinja is Sunnah Muakkadah (Emphasized Sunnah) when we pass impurity from any of our two passages (front & back). It is Sunnah to purify the area with the use of stone (Tissue in modern times) or water. It is best to make use of both. So you would wipe the area first with a stone (modern day we would use tissue) and then wash the area with water.

If one does not have access to both water and stone, it would be sufficient to clean the area with just one, for example, just using water or just using stone (tissue), of course using water would be better as it will clean the area thoroughly and eliminate the impurity. Overall the Sunnah is to purify the area. It is recommended to use 3 stones, even if purity is achieved with less, The Prophet Peace Be Upon Him has stated “Perform istinja with three stones” if you use more than its also fine, it is recommended to use odd numbers such as three, five.etc

Stone: In the past there was no tissues, hence the use of stones was practiced. Not every stone is suitable for istinja, there are certain conditions of a cleansing stone which need to be met such as:

The stone should not be too rough and not too smooth; as if it is too rough it could harm you, and if it is is too smooth, it will not serve its purpose.
The stone should not be valuable, this applies generally to anything that you are going to use for istinja, the item should not be valuable, whether it’s a stone, paper, tissue or anything else..
The stone should not be respected. As the area we are cleaning is not pure, and using something that generally you or others would respect is not suitable.

After you have relived yourself you are now ready to do istinja, I will outline in simple steps on how to do istinja.

Step 1

Male:

If the scrotum is loosely hanging (generally when the body temperature is warm) he would wipe with the first stone (tissue) from the front area (the part closest to the testacies) wiping towards the back. With the second stone (tissue) he would wipe from the back (rear part of the anus) towards the front, and with the third stone (tissue) he would wipe from the front towards the back.

If the scrotum is not loose (generally when the body temperature is clod) he would first wipe from the back area of the anus towards the front (the part closest to the testacies).

Female:

The female would always wipe first from the front (part closest to the vagina) wiping towards the back, and with the second stone (tissue) wiping from the back to the front and so on.

Step 2

Wash both the hands; in case of any impurity that may have gone onto the skin during step one.

Step 3

Pour water over the anus area and rub the area using the inner part of your fingers (Not the side where your nail is).

Male

Men would start by using their middle finger when rubbing and cleaning with water, than he would use his wedding finger (ring finger), so that he is using both his middle and ring finger both to clean together. He should not just use one finger to complete his istinjah as its possible that the area would not be fully cleaned with just the one finger.

Female

Females would start by using both her middle and ring finger from the beginning. So she would use two fingers from the beginning to clean.

Step 4

You should try utmost in cleaning until the stench is completely removed from your body. If one is not fasting, they should also relax their buttocks so that the water can full clean the exit of the passage thoroughly.

If one is fasting, they should be cautions to ensure that no water goes inside the body which will nullify the fast.

Step 5

One you have completed the washing, you would wash your hands, and if one is also fasting, they should wipe the area washed to ensure there is no water left in case it enters the body whilst standing., which would again nullify the fast.

Reference:

نور الىضاح – فصل فى الاستنجاء