The 365 · Sunnah · Day 109 · Speech
Reciting the Prophetic Duʿāʾ When Entering Home
The hadith
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ وَلَجْنَا، وَبِسْمِ اللَّهِ خَرَجْنَا، وَعَلَى اللَّهِ رَبِّنَا تَوَكَّلْنَا، ثُمَّ لِيُسَلِّمْ عَلَى أَهْلِه
The Prophet ﷺ: 'When a man enters his home and remembers Allah at his entrance and his eating, the Shayṭān says (to his comrades): There is no place for you to spend the night and no dinner. When he enters and does not remember Allah at his entrance, the Shayṭān says: You have a place to spend the night. When he does not remember Allah at his eating, the Shayṭān says: You have a place to spend the night and you have dinner.' (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2018, Jābir.) Cross-ref Abū Dāwūd 5096: 'Bismi-llāhi walajnā, wa-bismi-llāhi kharajnā, wa-ʿalā Allāhi rabbinā tawakkalnā, thumma li-yusallim ʿalā ahlih.'
Svenska: Profeten ﷺ: 'När en man går in i sitt hem och kommer ihåg Allah vid ingången och vid sin måltid, säger Shaytan: Det finns ingen plats för er att tillbringa natten och ingen middag. När han går in och inte kommer ihåg Allah vid ingången, säger Shaytan: Ni har en plats att tillbringa natten.' (Sahih Muslim 2018.)
Sahih Muslim 2018, Abu Dawud 5096 (Jābir)
The story
The Companions internalized this. The Prophet ﷺ modeled it consistently: at every home-entry, bismi-llāh. The classical scholars: this hadith establishes the structural significance of the bismi-llāh-at-entry; modern households that do not practice it accumulate Shayṭānic disturbance over time.
Why it's here
The Prophet ﷺ named the structural reality: the believer's bismi-llāh at entry to the home blocks Shayṭān from spending the night there. The structural protection is operational: a single phrase at the threshold blocks the entire household from Shayṭānic disturbance during the night. The cost is 3 seconds; the benefit is structural household-protection.
Try it today
1. At every entry to your home: say bismi-llāh (or the longer duʿāʾ: 'Bismi-llāhi walajnā, wa-bismi-llāhi kharajnā, wa-ʿalā Allāhi rabbinā tawakkalnā'). 2. Then give salām to the family present. 3. The combined practice (bismi-llāh at threshold + salām to family) is the complete Prophetic entry-protocol. 4. Train children to do the same.
In your day
Multiple home-entries daily (returning from work, errands, school-pickup): each is an opportunity for the bismi-llāh. Build it as automatic. Pair with the salām-to-empty-house Sunnah (Day 115).
A reflection to carry
Duʿāʾ when entering the home (revisit). The bismi-llāh-at-threshold blocks Shayṭān's night-stay (Muslim 2018). Structural household-protection.
Read the longer reflection
The Prophet ﷺ: when the believer remembers Allah at home-entry and at eating, Shayṭān cannot stay the night nor share the dinner. A single phrase at the threshold blocks the entire household from Shayṭānic disturbance during the night. Cure: at every entry to your home, say bismi-llāh (or the longer duʿāʾ: 'Bismi-llāhi walajnā, wa-bismi-llāhi kharajnā, wa-ʿalā Allāhi rabbinā tawakkalnā'); pair with salām to family present; train children to do the same. Multiple home-entries daily are multiple opportunities for the named protection; the cumulative reward across years is structurally severe.
Sources: Sahih Muslim, Abu Dawud. 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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