Lexical meaning of “istibrâ” is to exert yourself, to free yourself from something disagreeable or impure. In the Islamic branch of fiqh, it means “after urination, to make sure that there is no urine left in the urethra lest it should drop into your pants afterwards and dirty them and break your ablution.” Istibrâ is done by gently squeezing urine drops out of the penis, by walking up and down for a while (about twenty minutes), or by lying on your left-hand side for a while. Istibrâ has yet another meaning in the branch of fiqh, used in matters pertaining to conjugal relationships.
