10 means to fortify the Muslim house

No doubt that our homes are blessings from Allah (may He be Exalted) which deserve to show gratitude to Allah for them. Allah (may He be Exalted) reminded His Servants of these constant and moveable houses: "And Allah has made for you in your homes an abode, and made for you out of the hides of the cattle (tents for) dwelling, which you find so light (and handy) when you travel and when you stay (in your travels), and of their wool, fur, and hair (sheep wool, camel fur, and goat hair), a furnishing and articles of convenience (e.g. carpets, blankets, etc.), a comfort for a while." [Surat An-Nahl: 80].

The house of a Muslim must be distinct from others by doing the things which Allah ordained for Muslims to do in their houses such as: Mentioning Allah, increasing the voluntary Salahs, reciting the Qur'an, and freeing the houses from the means of corruption… etc.

Therefore, I shall mention some matters that will fortify and protect our houses.

1- Increasing the mention of Allah (may He be Exalted):

Abu Musa narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "The likeness of a house in which Allah is remembered and the house in which Allah is not remembered is that of the living and the dead." [Reported by Muslim].

Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saying: When a man enters his house and mention Allah's Name upon entering and on his food, the devil says: You have no place to spend the night and no evening meal. However, when a person enters without mentioning Allah's Name upon entering, the devil says: You have found a place to spend the night. And when he does not mention Allah's Name at his food, Satan says: You have found a place to spend the night and evening meal." [Reported by Muslim].

2- Offering greetings upon entering the house:

Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "But when you enter the houses, greet one another with a greeting from Allâh (i.e. say: As-Salâmu 'Alaikum - peace be on you), blessed and good." [Surat An-Nur: 61].

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "O son, when you enter your house, say As-Salamu `Alaikum to your family, for it will be a blessing for you and for your family."

[Reported by At-Tirmidhy].

3- Offering (voluntary) Salah therein:

Ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Observe part of the [Nawafil (voluntary)] Salah (prayers) in your homes. Do not turn your homes into graves." [Reported by Muslim].

Jabir narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "When any one of you observes Salah in the masjid, he should reserve a part of his Salah for his house, for Allah would make the Salah as a means of betterment in his house." [Reported by Muslim].

And the Hadith of "So you people, offer this Salah at your homes, for the best Salah of a person is the one which he offers at home, except the compulsory (congregational) Salah." [Reported by Al Bukhari and Muslim].

4- Reciting the Qur'an frequently, particularly Surat Al Baqarah:

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Do not turn your houses into graveyards. Indeed, Satan runs away from the house in which Surat Al Baqarah is recited." [Reported by Muslim].

Sahl ibn Sa`d As-Sa`idy narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Indeed, everything has a top, and the top of the Qur'an is Surat Al Baqarah. So, whoever recites it at his house during the day, Satan shall not approach his house for three days, and whoever recites it at night, Satan will not enter his house for three days." [Sahih Ibn Hibban].

5- Cleaning the house from crosses:

The cross is the slogan of Christians, `A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "The Prophet (peace be upon him) never used to leave in the house anything carrying images or crosses but he obliterated it." [Reported by Al Bukhari].

6- Of the things which must not be found inside the house are pictures and dogs:

Abu Talhah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Angels (of Mercy) do not enter a house wherein there is a dog or a picture of a living creature (a human being or an animal)." [Reported by Al Bukhari and Muslim]. Another narration of Imam Muslim: "Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a statue [or pictures]."

Ibn `Umar narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "If someone keeps a dog neither for guarding livestock, nor for hunting, his good deeds will decrease (in reward) by two Qirats a day." [Reported by Al Bukhari and Muslim].

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Gabriel (peace be upon him) came to me and said: I came to you last night and was prevented from entering simply because there were images at the door, for there was a decorated curtain with images on it in the house, and there was a dog in the house. So order the head of the image which is in the house to be cut off so that it resembles the form of a tree; order the curtain to be cut up and made into two cushions spread out on which people may tread; and order the dog to be turned out. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) then did so. The dog belonged to Al Hasan or al-Husayn and was under their couch. So he ordered it to be turned out. Abu Dawud said: Al-Nadd means a thing on which clothes are placed like a couch." [Reported by Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhy who said: A good and authentic Hadith].

7- Closing doors, covering vessels, and turning off lights:

Jabir ibn `Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "When night falls (or it is evening), keep your children close to you for the devils spread out at that time. But when an hour of the night elapses, you can let them free. Close the doors and mention the Name of Allah, for Satan does not open a closed door. Tie the mouth of your water-skin and mention Allah's Name; cover your containers and utensils and mention Allah's Name. Cover them even by placing something across it, and extinguish your lamps." [Reported by Al Bukhari].

8- Not to leave fire burning when you go to sleep:

Salim reported from his father that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Do not keep the fire burning in your houses when you go to bed." [Reported by Al Bukhari].

Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "One night a house in Medina was burnt with its occupants. The Prophet (peace be upon him) spoke about them, saying: "This fire is indeed your enemy, so whenever you go to bed, put it out to protect yourselves." [Reported by Al Bukhari].

9- Cleaning the house from the voice of Satan:

Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "And Istafziz [literally means: befool them gradually] those whom you can among them with your voice (i.e. songs, music, and any other call for Allah's disobedience)." [Surat Al Isra': 64]. [Surat Al Isra': 64].

Mujahid said: The voice of Satan is singing.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful." [Reported by Al Bukhari].

Imam Ibn Al Qayyim mentioned in "Ighathat Al Lahfan" a Hadith reported by Ibn Majah with an authentic chain of transmission on the authority of Abu Malik Al Ash`ary that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Some of my people will assuredly drink wine calling it by another name. and musical instruments will be played for them and singing girls (will sing for them). Allah will cause the earth to swallow them up, and will turn them into monkeys and pigs."

10- Maintaining the cleanliness of the house:

Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "Truly, Allâh loves those who turn to Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves (by taking a bath and cleaning and washing thoroughly their private parts, bodies, for their prayers)." [Surat Al Baqarah: 222].

Salih ibn Abu Hassan said: I heard Sa`id ibn Al Musayyab saying: "Indeed Allah is Pure and loves the pure. He is Clean and loves cleanliness. He is Generous and loves generosity. so clean -I think he said: your courtyards- and do not be like the Jews."

He said: I mentioned that to Muhajir ibn Mismar. Thereupon, he said: `Amir ibn ibn Sa`d ibn Abu Waqqas reported it to me on the authority of his father from the Prophet (peace be upon him), but he said: "Clean your courtyards." [Reported by At-Tirmidhy].

If we maintain these matters in our houses such as mentioning Allah, offering Salah, reciting the Qur'an and others in our houses, they will become schools for goodness in which women and children will get accustomed to obedience and virtue, angels enter them and devils keep away from them. However, if the houses are free of these righteous actions, they shall become deserted like graves in which dead people live even if they are physically live where Satan lives with them and the angels of the Most Gracious leave them.