The 365 · Sunnah · Day 59 · Social
Reciting the Prophetic Duʿāʾ Upon Leaving the Home
The hadith
إِذَا خَرَجَ الرَّجُلُ مِنْ بَيْتِهِ فَقَالَ: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ، تَوَكَّلْتُ عَلَى اللَّهِ، لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ، يُقَالُ لَهُ: هُدِيتَ، وُقِيتَ، وُفِيتَ، وَتَنَحَّى الشَّيْطَانُ
The Prophet ﷺ said: 'When the man leaves his home and says: bismillah, tawakkaltu ʿalā Allah, lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illa billah, it is said to him: you are guided, you are sufficed, you are protected, and the shayṭān withdraws from him.' (Sunan Abū Dāwūd 5095, Tirmidhī 3426, classed ṣaḥīḥ, narrated by Anas ibn Mālik.)
Svenska: Profeten ﷺ sade: 'När mannen lämnar sitt hus och säger denna du'a, det sägs till honom: du är vägledd, du är tillräcklig, du är skyddad, och Shaytan drar sig undan från honom.'
The story
Anas ibn Mālik, the personal servant of the Prophet ﷺ for ten years, preserved this hadith. He observed the Prophet's ﷺ daily routine, including the threshold practices. Imam an-Nawawī included this duʿāʾ among the foundational adhkār in his Adhkār collection.
Why it's here
The threshold of the home is the boundary between the believer's controlled environment and the unpredictable outside. The Prophet ﷺ established the structural protection-duʿāʾ precisely at this threshold: the three named outcomes (guidance, sufficiency, protection) cover the three categories of risk the believer faces outside (going wrong, lacking what is needed, being harmed). The shayṭān's withdrawal is named explicitly: this duʿāʾ moves the demonic suggestion-channel away from the believer for the duration of the trip.
Try it today
1. Memorize the duʿāʾ in Arabic. About 8 seconds to recite. 2. Recite it every single time you leave the home, regardless of trip-length. Going to the masjid, the store, work, even just outside for a moment. 3. Pair with the entering-the-home duʿāʾ: bismillah walaj na, wa-bismillah kharaj na, wa ʿalā Allahi rabbinā tawakkalnā (Abū Dāwūd 5096). The pair brackets every excursion.
In your day
Most modern Muslims leave the home dozens of times a week without this duʿāʾ. The cost is 8 seconds; the named outcomes are guidance, sufficiency, protection, and the structural withdrawal of shayṭān. Build the habit. Place a reminder near the door if needed.
A reflection to carry
The duʿāʾ when leaving the home (revisit): 'Bismi-llāhi tawakkaltu ʿalā Allāh, wa-lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā bi-llāh.' Threefold benefit: guided + sufficed + protected; plus Shayṭān moves away. (Tirmidhī 3426.)
Read the longer reflection
The named structural protection covers the day's external risks: misguidance (mitigated by hudīta), insufficiency (mitigated by kufita), harm (mitigated by wuqita), Shayṭānic interference (mitigated by his retreat). All four for one 5-second duʿāʾ. The accumulated daily multiplication (multiple home-leavings) makes this one of the most operationally severe daily sunnahs. Cure: memorize; install as automatic before crossing the threshold of the home; train children to recite. The structural daily protection is silent but real.
Sources: Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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