Facing the Qiblah, and Silence in the Shower

It is part of the adab of wuḍūʾ, mustaḥabb and sunnah together, to face the qiblah while making it. Ghusl is the opposite case: it is improper to face the qiblah while engaged in making ghusl, standing there in the shower. Nor is it proper, once inside, to talk, or to hum or start singing under the water^* — none of this is permitted. The whole business is to be gone into, done, and come out of as quickly as possible. This extends even to a telephone call: a caller — a mother, say, ringing at just that moment — receives no answer while the water is running. She may simply be told afterwards that one was in the shower, and that is enough; she will understand. But there is to be no conversation while it continues. This is no part of the culture proper to this act of purification: nothing at all is undertaken in the shower beyond the washing itself.