How Much of Sūrah Al-Baqarah Do We Need To Recite To Chase Away the shayṭān From Our Homes and Will A Recording Suffice by Shaykh Ḥasan Ṣomālī

Question:

Answer:

May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) bless you as well. And may Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) grant us and you the good of this world and the good of the hereafter and protect us from the fire.

It appears that you are referring to the ḥadīth,

“Indeed, the shayṭān flees from the home in which Sūrah Al-Baqarah is recited.”

Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn (رحمه الله) asked this question in his commentary upon Saḥīḥ Muslim,

‘The protection that is mentioned in this ḥadīth, is it attained when a person completes the recitation of Sūrah Al-Baqarah or when a person starts to recite Sūrah Al-Baqarah?’

He said the answer is, “It is attained when a person completes the recitation of Sūrah Al-Baqarah. This is because the one who starts to recite it, it is not said that he recited it.”

Does Playing A Recording Suffice?

Question B: Then we have a side issue and this question arises: Is it sufficient to just play a recording of Sūraḥ Al-Baqarah in the home to attain the protection of Allāh (عز وجل) that is referred to in this ḥadīth, that Allāh (عز وجل) will protect the home from the shayṭān?

Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn (رحمه الله) was of the position that in the ḥadīth the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, ‘tuqra’u’ – meaning, where Sūrat Al-Baqarah ‘is recited.’ So it is a must for it to be recited. He did not say where you ‘hear’ the recitation of Sūrah Al-Baqarah. And he said so based upon that.

Those who place recordings of Sūrat Al-Baqarah in their homes continuously do not attain this ruling because recitation that is recorded is not truly recitation. It is not qirā’ah. Rather, it is a recording of the voice of the reciter from a previous time. So he concluded and said,

‘therefore by just playing a recording, you do not attain what is attained by a person when they recite Sūrah Al-Baqarah themselves. And this was the position of Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn (رحمه الله).

A Different Opinion

Some of the other scholars like Shaykh Ibn Bāz (رحمه الله), held that if a person was to listen to a recording, then that ruling would apply. However, I would advise the brothers and sisters to avoid the differing in this matter.

The Safest Position.

 Alḥamdu lillāh no doubt, the safest position is to recite Sūrah Al-Baqarah yourselves in your home in order to attain what the Prophet ﷺ mentioned, that the shayṭān will flee from the home in which Sūrah Al-Baqarah is recited.

An Encouragement To Learn Arabic And Qur’ān.

And in that, for brothers and sisters in the West and all over the world, is an encouragement to learn how to read the Qur’ān and to learn the Arabic letters. To learn them with their vowels and how to connect them and this will allow you to read the Book of Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى). The reward is great and the benefit is great and none of us should be lazy as it relates to learning how to read the book of Allāh (عز وجل).