JEDDAH: Public toilets attached to mosques along the highways are anything but clean. A familiar view at these way stations is women and children holding up their clothing to prevent them from being soiled by the filth of these public toilets — one hand holds up the fabric that dangles a little too close to the ground while the other hand pinches the nose.
A lack of tissues, soap and even garbage bins adds to the mess. The doors to the stalls often have no locks. The bidet sprayers are often tossed down into disgusting puddles because the holders on the walls are missing.
Concerns have risen not only with calls for the protection of public health but also to care about toilets linked to the houses of Allah and Islam where personal cleanliness is paramount.
In this context Ali Badahdah, a well-known local Islamic scholar involved in dawa (Islamic propagation), says the condition of these rest stops reflects on the country, adding that Turkey does a better job maintaining these roadside rest stops.
But, he said, having clean rest stops for the sake of pilgrims or the reputation of the country isn’t enough.
“That is important as well, but we should not be doing this for the sake of reputations but rather because this is what Islam asks us to do and this is what civilization demands,” he said.
Badahdah added that authorities ostensibly monitor the situations on highways, especially those linking Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah, however the monitoring of roadside rest stops is not always a priority, attributing the neglect to “the conflict of responsibility among government departments,” such as the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Ministry of Rural Affairs, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Haj.
According to Tawfeeq Al-Sudairi, deputy minister of Islamic affairs for dawa and guidance and mosques affairs, in general the operation and maintenance of mosques on highways “is the responsibility of the owners of these stations.”
“They are the ones who are benefiting from the presence of mosques at their stations and they must take care of them according to the system,” he said. “The Ministry of Rural Affairs is the one responsible for obliging the owners of these station to do their job.”
Minister of Rural Affairs spokesman Hamad Al-Omar told Arab News by phone that the mosques and accompanying petrol stations “are the responsibility of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and the owners of the stations.”
After faxing questions to the ministry regarding the problem of dirty roadside bathrooms, Arab News received a response in the form of a recent circular ordering that municipalities and regional departments of the ministry to take care of mosques at roadside stations. The circular also orders more inspections.
But for the time being, Hajis heading to Makkah, Madinah and the holy sites will have to pinch their noses and hold up their clothes if they need to use a roadside restroom.
Sheikh Ghassan Al-Gain, a prominent Islamic researcher, spoke about the association of cleanliness in every Islamic act, including (and especially) prayers. For Muslims to pray their bodies, clothes and prayer locations must be clean.
“Cleanliness is not only associated with culture and civilized behavior; it is also associated to faith and religion,” he said.
