Hadithcore
Sahih Muslim, 342
sahih

'Abdullah b. Ja'far reported:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) one day made me mount behind him and he confided to me something secret which I would not disclose to anybody; and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) liked the concealment provided by a lofty place or cluster of dates (while answering the call of nature), Ibn Asma' said in his narration: It implied an enclosure of the date-trees.

حَدَّثَنَا شَيْبَانُ بْنُ فَرُّوخَ، وَعَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَسْمَاءَ الضُّبَعِيُّ، قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا مَهْدِيٌّ، - وَهُوَ ابْنُ مَيْمُونٍ - حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي يَعْقُوبَ، عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ، مَوْلَى الْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ جَعْفَرٍ، قَالَ أَرْدَفَنِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ خَلْفَهُ فَأَسَرَّ إِلَىَّ حَدِيثًا لاَ أُحَدِّثُ بِهِ أَحَدًا مِنَ النَّاسِ وَكَانَ أَحَبَّ مَا اسْتَتَرَ بِهِ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم لِحَاجَتِهِ هَدَفٌ أَوْ حَائِشُ نَخْلٍ ‏.‏ قَالَ ابْنُ أَسْمَاءَ فِي حَدِيثِهِ يَعْنِي حَائِطَ نَخْلٍ ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 3, Hadith 96
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Book 3, Hadith 673 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
Concealing one's private parts is one of the etiquette of relieving oneself so a Muslim is required to preserve them away from people's eyes. In this hadith, Abdullah ibn Ga'far narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) one day made him mount behind him and confided to him something secret. Ga’far was honest and would not disclose it to anybody. This indicated his perfect virtue and supreme status with the Prophet to the extent that he let him in on a secret. Afterward, Abdullah narrated, "The thing that the Prophet most liked to conceal himself behind while relieving himself was a hillock or a stand of date palm trees." It was the Arabs' custom that they relieved themselves in gardens but they later used bathrooms. Finally, this hadith confirms the importance of concealing all one's body while answering the call of nature..
Related hadiths2
Compare isnād across 2 related chains →