Why My Window Was Open At Fajr!

In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate and the Most Merciful!

Well, my window was open at Fajr - the morning prayer time - because I and my husband have a very bad cold. I wanted to get some ventilation. When temperatures fall down at the end of September/beginning of October - it is a good time to open the windows at night to get some of the cooler night air in. I set my AC temperature at a higher setting at night so that it doesn't kick in and the night air cools our home. However, my husband and my kid have an allergy to trees. So even though, I would like to trap that cooler night air, many times I keep the windows closed to keep the allergens out until it's a rainy day like it was last night.

However, besides giving a break to our AC systems and ventilating some of those germs out, there is another reason, I had the windows open. I would like some of those lurking Jinns and perhaps some of the neighbors to get a sound of the Fajr Adhaan - Morning Call to Prayer - as well. The Adhaan goes like this:

We have two Adhaan clocks by the Al-Fajr clock company. They go off 5 times a day. My friends ask why I have two Adhaan clocks. Because of having an Adhaan clock on each level, each inch of my home gets the sound of the Adhaan. Masha'Allah! Why would hearing the Adhaan by the Jinns be so necessary? Humans are hearing it because they need to be alerted that it's prayer time. However, the lurking Jinns in our home need to hear it because of the following reasons as narrated in the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh):

Jabir reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Verily, when Satan hears the call to prayer, he flees to a very distant place.”

Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 388

Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Muslim

عَنْ جَابِرٍ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ إِذَا سَمِعَ النِّدَاءَ بِالصَّلَاةِ ذَهَبَ حَتَّى يَكُونَ مَكَانَ الرَّوْحَاءِ

388 صحيح مسلم كتاب الصلاة باب فضل الأذان وهرب الشيطان عند سماعه

Why would the lurking Jinns - the disciples of the Shaitaan - be a threat to someone's home?Please read Shaitaan's threat when he got evicted from Paradise:

"I will approach them from their front, their back, their right, their left, and then You will find most of them ungrateful.”[Quran 7:17]

Shaitaan is a perpetual enemy to Humans. Allah created three creatures - Humans from Clay, Angels from Light, and Jinns from Fire. Angels don't have a Free Will - they do as Allah commands. Humans and Jinns have Free Will - they can do what they please. There are good, bad, and ugly in both Humans and Jinns. The problem with the Bad and the Ugly in the Jinns is they don't stay contained in their living spheres - they lurk in the Human spheres to follow through on the promise of their chief.

In Islam, Shaitaan is not a mythical creature as in Christianity. Once, in a communication with a Christian Pastor, he related a story where a Christian group had gone camping and they noted that one team member acted very strangely. I shared a similar story of a Muslim camping trip where deep in the woods, a Muslim member refused to pray Fajr. Well, what's common in both stories is that it was deep in the woods - where humans normally don't reside. So the human team might have run into a Jinn-infested area. While the Christians would probably use some of their exorcism practices - which I really don't understand - we, the Muslims, will normally recite Ayat ul Kursi [Quran 2:255] and the three Quls [the last three chapters of the Quran - 3 times each] to seek protection from evil.

How about our homes? Are they safe? They are as safe as the Islamic practices of the inhabitants that occupy that home. Are they believers, as in believing in the 6 Articles of Faith and carrying on the 5 Pillars of Islam, that live in that home? If that is true for the most part, a Muslim abode is safe from the demonic forces aka the Bad and the Ugly Jinns. How can you tell if your home might have a strong Jinn presence? A simple litmus test is that there will be too much conflict, anger, sadness, and depression - nearly all the negative emotional attributes one encounters in Psychology. But how do you tell if it is Psychology or Shaitaan? In reality, a human personality is not just determined by Spirituality and Psychology but also by Physiology. if you eat well/exercise well, take care of your stressors, and most importantly take care of your Deen (religion), all is well mostly. However, when one encounters an emotional crisis, you got to pay attention to all three: Spirituality, Psychology, and Physiology. That is what I do when I counsel people. I take a complete account of their life:

Are they practicing their Deen as in the 6 Articles of Faith and the 5 Pillars of Islam? Do they seek protection from Shaitaan and its disciples aka Shiateen - all day and night long? Etc.

How are they tackling their anxiety/grief/stress? Are they seeking solutions to real-life problems to tackle these emotions? Do they have a purpose in life? Etc.

Do they eat well, Do they sleep well? Do they exercise well? Do they have a good physical relationship with their spouse? Etc.

Psychiatrists take the easy way out. Anyone who goes to them - they are probably going to give them a good dose of antidepressants and in the doctor's mind, the patient's situation is fixed. However, Chaplains take a holistic approach. My advice to anyone who is experiencing emotional turmoil - pay attention to Spirituality, Psychology, and Physiology. Insha'Allah!

If you missed the S. - you missed the S.

If you missed the Spirituality - you missed the Shaitaan.

Get your houses cleaned of these creatures:

Play Adhaan in your home.

Say Salam to your home when you enter your home

Stay inside your homes at/after the time of Maghreb when Jinns descend.

Cover your food and drinks.

Keep bathroom doors closed and say the supplication to enter/exit them.

Say "AudhuBillahi MinaShaitaaniRajeem - Oh Allah, I seek protection from Shaitaan - the Accursed" a lot!

Play/recite the Quran in your home especially the 2nd Chapter - Al-Baqarah

Recite 285 and 286 of Chapter 2 before sleeping

Recite 255 of Chapter 2 and the three Quls mentioned earlier

If a conflict appears in your home, sip some water three times, say Bismillah and exit the conversation.

A favorite victim of Shaitaan is the married couple and the institution of marriage.

Jabir reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Verily, Satan places his throne over the water and he sends out his troops. The closest to him in rank are the greatest at causing tribulations. One of them says: I have done this and this. Satan says: You have done nothing. Another one says: I did not leave this man alone until I separated him from his wife. Satan embraces him and he says: You have done well.”

Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2813

Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Muslim

عَنْ جَابِرٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنَّ إِبْلِيسَ يَضَعُ عَرْشَهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُ سَرَايَاهُ فَأَدْنَاهُمْ مِنْهُ مَنْزِلَةً أَعْظَمُهُمْ فِتْنَةً يَجِيءُ أَحَدُهُمْ فَيَقُولُ فَعَلْتُ كَذَا وَكَذَا فَيَقُولُ مَا صَنَعْتَ شَيْئًا قَالَ ثُمَّ يَجِيءُ أَحَدُهُمْ فَيَقُولُ مَا تَرَكْتُهُ حَتَّى فَرَّقْتُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ امْرَأَتِهِ قَالَ فَيُدْنِيهِ مِنْهُ وَيَقُولُ نِعْمَ أَنْتَ

2813 صحيح مسلم كتاب صفة القيامة والجنة والنار باب تحريش الشيطان وبعثه سراياه لفتنة الناس وأن مع كل إنسان قرينا

So basically, the Shaitaan celebrates when there is discord between husband and wife since a marriage/a family is the basic building block of a society. While working as a community chaplain, I have encountered SO MANY situations where the couple is unaware of how the Shaitaan is creating havoc with the marriage. The couple, generally speaking, will keep blaming each other for the demise of the marriage but one thing that I have always observed in marriages, that have been severely compromised, is that protection from Shaitaan was not sought.

So my fellow Muslims and non-Muslims, I urge you to seek Protection from the Shaitaan, the Evil Whisperer, the Satan, the Devil - whatever you may call it. It is this creature that lurks in empty houses which many gullible non-Muslims regard as ghosts. The souls go to purgatory upon death but it's the Jinn that exists all around us.

My purpose in the morning was getting the Call of Prayer to the open space outside my home - to whoever could benefit from it. Sometimes when the weather is good as in today, I play the Quran in my car with my windows down so the Humans get it and the Jinns.

Thank you for reading. Please share with someone who may be experiencing too much grief, anxiety, depression, etc. May you be rewarded for your good deeds. A'meen.