Question:
Assalamualaikum. “Whoever recite ten verses from surah al-Baqarah at night, then shaytan will not enter that house the whole night until dawn, the verses are; the first 4 verses of surah al-Baqarah, the verse of al-Kursi, two verses after it and the last three verses of surah al-Baqarah.” What is the status of this hadith?
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.
Referring to the hadith mentioned by the questioner, we found the hadith in several books. One of them is:
- From Abdullah bin Mas’ud RA, he said:
مَنْ قَرَأَ عَشْرَ آيَاتٍ مِنْ سُورَةِ الْبَقَرَةِ فِي لَيْلَةٍ، لَمْ يَدْخُلْ ذَلِكَ الْبَيْتَ شَيْطَانٌ تِلْكَ اللَّيْلَةَ حَتَّى يُصْبِحَ: أَرْبَعًا مِنْ أَوَّلِهَا، وَآيَةُ الْكُرْسِيِّ، وَآيَتَينِ بَعْدَهَا، وَثَلَاثٌ خَوَاتِيمُهَا
“Whoever recite ten verses from surah al-Baqarah at night, then shaytan will not enter that house the whole night until dawn, the verses are; the first 4 verses of surah al-Baqarah, the verse of al-Kursi, two verses after it and the last three verses of surah al-Baqarah.”
Narrated by Imam al-Darimi (3425)
The Status and Commentary on the Hadith
Imam al-Haithami states that the hadith is narrated by Imam al-Thabarani and other narrators are sahih (authentic) with the exception of al-Sya’bi for he did not hear (the said hadith) from Ibn Mas’ud. (See Majma’ al-Zawaid, 118/10)
Furthermore, Imam Hajar al-Asqalani ruled the status of the hadith as mawquf (“stopped”; the chain of narrators stops at the companions. In other words, it is a saying of the companions), and the narraotrs are thiqah (trustworthy). However, the chain of narrators (sanad) is broken (inqintha’). (See Futuhat al-Rabbaniyyah, 284/3)
According to the opinions of these two great scholars, we conclude that the hadith is categorized as weak (dhaif) because the chain of the narrators is broken, where al-Sya’bi did not hear the hadith from Abdullah bin Mas’ud.
On another note, there is another sahih (valid) hadith from Sahih Muslim that states the benefit of reciting surah al-Baqarah and meaning is as the following:
- From Abu Hurairah RA, the Prophet PBUH said:
لَا تَجْعَلُوا بُيُوتَكُمْ مَقَابِرَ، إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ يَنْفِرُ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ الَّذِي تُقْرَأُ فِيهِ سُورَةُ الْبَقَرَةِ
“Do not make your houses as graveyards. Satan runs away from the house in which Surah Baqara is recited.”
Sahih Muslim (780)
According to Syeikh al-Mubarakfuri the meaning of do not make your house into graveyards is a house where zikr (remembrance of Allah SWT) and worship is absent from it, for it is similar to a graveyard because only a dead person is no longer able to remember and worship Allah. Another meaning of this hadith is the prohibition of burying anyone inside a house. However, this first meaning is applicable for this hadith, which is a house of which there is an absence of zikr and worship in it. (See Tuhfah al-Ahwazi, 146/8)
Conclusion
To conclude, although the above hadith is mawquf and its chain of narrators is broken, some scholars ruled it permissible to practise it. The reason is, there is another hadith that supports the mawquf hadith as we have stated above from Sahih Muslim. Furthermore, the companions of the Prophet would not say anything unless they heard it from the Prophet PBUH himself. The Prophet PBUH said:
فَعَلَيْكُمْ بِسُنَّتِي وَسُنَّةِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ الْمَهْدِيِّينَ
“So, you must stick to my Sunnah and to the Sunnah of the Khulafa ar-Rashideen (the rightly guided caliphs), those who guide to the right way.”
Narrated by al-Hakim (329)
Lastly, may Allah SWT give us guidance in practising our religion and accepts all our good deeds. Amin.
Wallahua’lam.