Extract from "Ghayr Masnun Nafli Nawafil" by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri
There is no prescribed or proven prayer from the Prophet ﷺ specifically for arriving at a new place (manzil), entering a house, or leaving it. Therefore, to establish a specific prayer for such occasions is an innovation (بدعت). Below is a scholarly analysis of various narrations on this subject:
Narrated by: Sayyidunā Faḍālah bin ʿUbayd رضي الله عنه
Arabic Text:
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا نزل منزلا فى سفر، أو دخل بيته لم يجلس حتى يركع ركعتين.
Translation: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when arriving at a stop during a journey or entering his house, would not sit until he offered two rakʿahs.
Source: [al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī: 18/300, Ḥadīth 770; Musnad al-Shāmiyyīn: 2176]
➊ Muḥammad bin ʿUmar al-Wāqidī is abandoned (matrūk) and a known liar.
➋ His teacher Ḥārithah bin Abī ʿImrān is majhūl (unknown).
➌ Ḥusayn bin Aḥmad bin Yūnus al-Ahwāzī, one of al-Ṭabarānī’s teachers, is majhūl al-ḥāl (his credibility is not established).
Narrated by: Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه
Arabic Text:
إذا دخلت منزلك فصل ركعتين تمنعانك مدخل السوء، وإذا خرجت من منزلك فصل ركعتين تمنعانك مخرج السوء.
Translation: When you enter your home, perform two rakʿahs—they will protect you from an evil entrance. When you leave your home, perform two rakʿahs—they will protect you from an evil exit.
Source: [Musnad al-Bazzār, Kashf al-Astār: 746]
➊ Bakr bin ʿUmar al-Muʿāfirī is majhūl al-ḥāl.
Narrated by: Muṭʿim bin Muqaddam رحمه الله
Arabic Text:
ما خلف عبد على أهله أفضل من ركعتين يركعهما عندهم حين يريد السفر
Translation: A servant does not leave behind anything better for his family than two rakʿahs which he offers before setting out for travel.
Source: [Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 1/424, Ḥadīth 4879]
Narrated by: Sayyidunā Anas رضي الله عنه
Arabic Text:
ما استخلف عبد فى أهله من خليفة أحب إلى الله عز وجل من أربع ركعات يصليهن العبد فى بيته إذا شد عليه ثياب سفره.
Translation: When a person ties his travel garments and offers four rakʿahs at home, then he has left no better deputy behind with his family in the sight of Allah.
Source: [Makārim al-Akhlāq by al-Kharā’iṭī: 789]
➊ Muʿāfī bin Muḥammad and
➋ Saʿīd bin Murtāsh are unknown (majhūl).
Narrated by: Mūsā bin Abī Mūsā al-Ashʿarī رحمه الله
Arabic Text:
إن ابن عباس قدم من سفر فصلى فى بيته ركعتين على طنفسة.
Translation: Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما returned from a journey and offered two rakʿahs in his house on a mat.
Source: [Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 2/82; Tārīkh al-Kabīr by al-Bukhārī: 7/287]
No authentic narration proves that the Prophet ﷺ or the Companions regularly performed a specific two or four rakʿahs upon:
Thus, to establish such prayers as regular acts of Sunnah is an innovation (bidʿah).
❖ Prayer When Arriving at a Place or Entering/Leaving the Home
There is no prescribed or proven prayer from the Prophet ﷺ specifically for arriving at a new place (manzil), entering a house, or leaving it. Therefore, to establish a specific prayer for such occasions is an innovation (بدعت). Below is a scholarly analysis of various narrations on this subject:
◈ Evidence No. ①
Narrated by: Sayyidunā Faḍālah bin ʿUbayd رضي الله عنه
Arabic Text:
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا نزل منزلا فى سفر، أو دخل بيته لم يجلس حتى يركع ركعتين.
Translation: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when arriving at a stop during a journey or entering his house, would not sit until he offered two rakʿahs.
Source: [al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī: 18/300, Ḥadīth 770; Musnad al-Shāmiyyīn: 2176]
✿ Authenticity Status: Fabricated (ضعیف جدًا / موضوع)
➊ Muḥammad bin ʿUmar al-Wāqidī is abandoned (matrūk) and a known liar.
- Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī رحمه الله said:
"ضعفه الجمهور" — The majority have declared him weak.
[Majmaʿ al-Zawā'id: 3/255] - Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Mulqin and Imām Isḥāq bin Rāhwayh also condemned him harshly.
- Declared matrūk by Imām Abū Ḥātim, Imām Muslim, Imām al-Nasā’ī, etc.
- Imām al-Bukhārī said:
"متروك الحديث، تركه أحمد..." — He is abandoned in ḥadīth; rejected by Aḥmad, Ibn Numayr, Ibn al-Mubārak...
[al-Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Kabīr: 4/107] - Muḥammad bin Bashshār said:
"ما رأيت أكذب شفتين من الواقدي" — I haven’t seen a greater liar than al-Wāqidī.
[Tārīkh Baghdād: 3/14]
➋ His teacher Ḥārithah bin Abī ʿImrān is majhūl (unknown).
➌ Ḥusayn bin Aḥmad bin Yūnus al-Ahwāzī, one of al-Ṭabarānī’s teachers, is majhūl al-ḥāl (his credibility is not established).
◈ Evidence No. ②
Narrated by: Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه
Arabic Text:
إذا دخلت منزلك فصل ركعتين تمنعانك مدخل السوء، وإذا خرجت من منزلك فصل ركعتين تمنعانك مخرج السوء.
Translation: When you enter your home, perform two rakʿahs—they will protect you from an evil entrance. When you leave your home, perform two rakʿahs—they will protect you from an evil exit.
Source: [Musnad al-Bazzār, Kashf al-Astār: 746]
✿ Authenticity Status: Weak (ضعیف)
➊ Bakr bin ʿUmar al-Muʿāfirī is majhūl al-ḥāl.
- Ibn al-Qaṭṭān al-Fāsī said:
"لا تعلم عدالته" — His integrity is unknown.
[Bayān al-Wahm wal-Īhām: 4/69]
➋ There is a narrator’s doubt (shakk) regarding the name.
➌ Yaḥyā bin Ayyūb al-Ghāfiqī is known for errors and inconsistencies.
◈ Evidence No. ③
Narrated by: Muṭʿim bin Muqaddam رحمه الله
Arabic Text:
ما خلف عبد على أهله أفضل من ركعتين يركعهما عندهم حين يريد السفر
Translation: A servant does not leave behind anything better for his family than two rakʿahs which he offers before setting out for travel.
Source: [Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 1/424, Ḥadīth 4879]
✿ Authenticity Status: Mursal or Muʿḍal
- Muṭʿim is a Tābiʿī, reporting directly from the Prophet ﷺ — without mentioning a Companion.
- Ḥāfiẓ al-Sakhāwī said:
"سنده معضل أو مرسل" — Its chain is either muʿḍal or mursal.
[al-Ibtihāj bi-Adhkār al-Musāfir wal-Ḥājj, p. 25]
◈ Evidence No. ④
Narrated by: Sayyidunā Anas رضي الله عنه
Arabic Text:
ما استخلف عبد فى أهله من خليفة أحب إلى الله عز وجل من أربع ركعات يصليهن العبد فى بيته إذا شد عليه ثياب سفره.
Translation: When a person ties his travel garments and offers four rakʿahs at home, then he has left no better deputy behind with his family in the sight of Allah.
Source: [Makārim al-Akhlāq by al-Kharā’iṭī: 789]
✿ Authenticity Status: Weak
➊ Muʿāfī bin Muḥammad and
➋ Saʿīd bin Murtāsh are unknown (majhūl).
- Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī stated:
"فيه من لا يعرف" — There are unknown narrators in it.
[al-Mughnī ʿan Ḥaml al-Asfār: 1/723]
◈ Evidence No. ⑤
Narrated by: Mūsā bin Abī Mūsā al-Ashʿarī رحمه الله
Arabic Text:
إن ابن عباس قدم من سفر فصلى فى بيته ركعتين على طنفسة.
Translation: Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما returned from a journey and offered two rakʿahs in his house on a mat.
Source: [Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 2/82; Tārīkh al-Kabīr by al-Bukhārī: 7/287]
✿ Authenticity Status: Weak
- Muqātil bin Bashīr al-ʿAjlī is majhūl al-ḥāl, mentioned only by Ibn Ḥibbān in al-Thiqāt: 7/509.
- Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī said:
"لا يعرف" — He is unknown.
[Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: 4/171]
Conclusion
No authentic narration proves that the Prophet ﷺ or the Companions regularly performed a specific two or four rakʿahs upon:
- Arriving at a new place
- Entering the house
- Leaving the house
- Beginning a journey
Thus, to establish such prayers as regular acts of Sunnah is an innovation (bidʿah).
