Question:
Are there any dalil related to sunnah prayer when entering or leaving the house?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
It is a commandment for every Muslim both men and women to perform two rakaat sunnah prayer when entering or leaving the house. Before we answer the above question, we would like to present several hadiths which narrates the encouragement of the Prophet PBUH to increase the sunnah prayer at home. Among them are:
- From Zaid bin Thabit RA, the Prophet PBUH said:
صَلَاةُ الْمَرْءِ فِي بَيْتِهِ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ صَلَاتِهِ فِي مَسْجِدِي هَذَا، إِلَّا الْمَكْتُوبَةَ
“The prayer a man offers in his house is more excellent than his prayer in this mosque of mine except obligatory prayer.”
Sunan Abu Daud (1044) [Syeikh Syu’aib al-Arna’outh state the sanad for this hadith is sahih]
In another hadith from Zaid bin Thabit RA, the Prophet PBUH said:
فَصَلُّوا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ، فَإِنَّ أَفْضَلَ الصَّلاَةِ صَلاَةُ المَرْءِ فِي بَيْتِهِ إِلَّا المَكْتُوبَةَ
“O people! Perform your prayers at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is what is performed at his home except the compulsory congregational) prayer.”
Sahih al-Bukhari (731)
In answering the above question, there are narrations which are related to prayer being performed when a person is leaving or entering his house. According to a narration from Imam al-Bazzar in his musnad:
- From Abu Hurairah RA, the Prophet PBUH said:
إِذَا خَرَجْتَ مِنْ مَنْزِلِكَ فَصَلِّ رَكْعَتَيْنِ تَمْنَعانِكَ مَخْرَجَ السَّوْءِ، وَإِذَا دَخَلْتَ مَنْزِلَكَ فَصَلِّ رَكْعَتَيْنِ تَمْنَعانِكَ مَدْخَلَ السَّوْءِ
“When you leave your house, pray two rakaat, surely, both of them would protect you from bad exits and when you enter your house, then pray two rakaat, surely both of them would protect you from bad entrances.”
Narrated by al-Bazar (8567) [Imam al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar evaluate the hadith as hasan]
Imam al-Munawi commented on the hadith saying, when a person is leaving his house it is sunnah for him to perform a brief two rakaat prayer and this can be achieved if he performed obligatory or sunnah prayer. The above hadith also states the wisdom behind the commandment which is to get the protection from Allah SWT from any harm outside or inside the house. Furthermore, the commandment of prayer is abrogated if a long duration of time has passed without any reason. This hadith is also an evidence used by Imam al-Ghazali when he states that it is sunnah to perform two rakaat prayer when leaving or entering the house. Moreover, the rewards of this can also be achieved when a person performs an obligatory or sunnah prayer when leaving or entering the house. (See Faidh al-Qadir, 1/334)
Conclusion
To conclude, we are commanded to always increase our sunnah prayer in our house including when we are leaving or entering the house. Lastly, may Allah SWT protect us and all our family from harm. Amin.