When Do Demons Spread Out?

Jabir ibn 'Abdullah narrated that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: "When night falls (or when it is evening), stop your children from going out, for the devils spread out at that time.  But  When an  hour  of the  night  has passed,  release  them and close the doors  and mention  Allah's  Name, for Satan does not open a closed door. Tie up the mouth of your water­ skin and mention Allah’s Name.   Cover your containers and utensils and mention Allah’s Name. Cover them even if only by placing something across it, and extinguish your lamps."[1]

In this  Hadith,  there  are  five  commands:  to  stop  the  children  from going  out; to close  doors;  to tie the mouths  of water-skins;  to cover containers;   to mention   the  name  of Allah;   and  to  extinguish   lamps  at bedtime.

The   Prophet (Peace be upon him) has  shown   the  reason   for  the  first   and   second commands,   in  this   Hadith;   the   reason   for  the   third   and   fourth commands were  explained  in another narration:  "Cover your containers  and  utensils,  tie the  mouth  of  your water-skin,  close  the doors and extinguish your lamps; for Satan cannot untie the mouth of the water-skin,  or open a closed  door or uncover  a container  (And if you don't  have anything to cover your utensil)  you may put across  it something  (e.g.  a piece  of  wood.)";[2]

As  for  the  fifth  command,  its reason  was  shown  in a  Hadith  transmitted  by Abu  Dawud,  on  the authority of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him):   "A rat dragged away the wick of the candle and dropped  it on the rug on which  the Prophet (Peace be upon him)  was sitting;  so it burnt a spot a size of a coin.  The Prophet (Peace be upon him) then said: "When you go to bed, extinguish your lamps, for Satan encourages such things as rats to do this, in order to burn you".

Jabir ibn 'Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated another Hadith   directly from the Prophet (Peace be upon him): "Do not let your children and animals out from the time of sunset until the end of the darkness of 'Isha'; for the devils spread out in that time".[3]

Ibn al-Juzayy  (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The  reason  why they spread  in that time is that they  can  move  more  easily  at  night  than  during  the  day,  because darkness gathers  evil forces. From this context comes the Hadith of Abu Dharr, in which the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: "The black dog is a devil."[4]