“There is the usual sense of estrangement associated with language, religion, and culture. The estrangement begins in fundamental ways for the Lebanese, like many cultures outside the U.S. and Western Europe, do not use toilet paper, and the Arabic toilet replaces the usual commode.”
I have 2 questions.
The first one, is it true that the Lebanese do not use toilet paper?
If they don’t use Toilet paper, then what do they use?
A quick clarification here: Many Muslims refuse to use toilet paper for religious reasons.
The Quran, attempting to impose sanitary habits in a desert world where water was often rare and paper non-existant, specified that a good Muslim should use a smooth, round stone, held in the left hand, for cleaning himself after defecating and that, further, only the right hand be used for eating and drinking. This was a practical, pragmatic method for controlling diseases such as cholera and got itself included in the sacred book now revered by many millions of people no longer short of water or paper.
Thus, when you hear the phrase that [some Muslims] don’t use toilet paper, keep in mind that they are doing so as a refusal to do other than as the Prophet dictated.
I understand that many hotels in Indonesia, for instance, include a basket of smooth stones in the modern washrooms, sitting right next to the toilet paper, so that users can take their pick.
I know this isn’t GD, but can you provide a cite for this? Almost ever Muslim home I’ve been to has toilet paper, and I’ve never heard a Muslim object to using it on religious grounds…
How are the stones disposed of? Or are they washed and put back in the basket for the next user? Not wanting to be a smartaleck, just want to know in case I wake up some morning in Indonesia.
Actually, a hand and water seems probably more sanitary and certainly cleaner than using a piece of paper. For instance, if you’ve been sweating a lot during a hot afternoon, when coming back home, would you rather take a shower or rub yourself with TP? What would be more sanitary and cleaner, according to you?
What about at Mecca or any other assembly place where large numbers of Muslims congregate. You’d have to have a working quarry to handle the number of rocks required for everyone to get their own. How do they handle the very large numbers with such a method?
No doubt this is heresy to Muslims, but I really can’t see how this has any actual practical effect in preventing disease. Surely their left and right hands would touch each other during the day, and so any germs on one would be transferred to the other. Seems unlikely to me that this ‘separation of duties’ for hands would have any real effect.
Do you have any cites to show that Muslims get cholera less often than people of other religions in the same area?
I would prefer a shower to wiping down with a piece of TP.
But I’m not so sure that the comparison between sweat and the remnants of excretement are the same. One can cause a lot more health problems then the other. I think it would be preferable to use TP and then get in the shower.
Also, I wouldn’t be completely confident in the hand method unless I had a HUGE jug of water.
Okay, this may seem gross, but do you wipe with the hand and rinse it with the water, or do you pour the water on yourself and clean with the hand? It seems that it might be more hygenic to pour the water on yourself and use the hand, using half of the jug to rinse the hand at the end.
I got my wings in Indonesia. You pour the water over the “affected area,” using your hand to do a quick scrub. Then you wash your hands. It’s more sanitary than the dry TP method.
I’ve never heard of anyone still using stones, either.