The Remembrance of Allah in the Details of the Muslim Home

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 10 May 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — [Watch the original video on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98F0P-vo1-c)

Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the servant of Allah and His Messenger, our master and our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and upon his family and companions, abundant peace. O Allah, we ask You for the good of this day, the good of what is in it and the good of what comes after it, and we seek refuge in You, our Lord, from the evil of this day, the evil of what is in it and the evil of what comes after it. O Allah, set right for us our religion, our worldly life and our hereafter, O Lord of the worlds.

Features of the Muslim home in prophetic remembrance

Yesterday we paused at the features of the Muslim home as they appear in prophetic remembrance, and today we take up the supplication of Muhammad ﷺ. We see that the remembrance of Allah, glorified is He, enters our homes in every detail of life, however delicate or sensitive matters may be, and whatever their difficulty and problems.

“No devil will ever harm him”

The Prophet ﷺ says: «لَوْ أَنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ إِذَا أَتَى أَهْلَهُ قَالَ: اللَّهُمَّ جَنِّبْنَا الشَّيْطَانَ، وَجَنِّبِ الشَّيْطَانَ مَا رَزَقْتَنَا، فَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمَا بِوَلَدٍ لَمْ يَضُرَّهُ شَيْطَانٌ أَبَدًا» ("If, when one of you comes to his wife, he says: O Allah, keep the devil away from us, and keep the devil away from what You provide us, and a child is then decreed for them, no devil will ever harm him").^[1]

When I think about the matter and reflect on it, I ask: why is there such a great reward for such a small act? A servant who, when he comes to his wife, says his words, then enjoys his time and his life, and then Allah the Exalted decrees a child, and that is the reward, of such greatness! That is because if the servant is mindful of the remembrance of Allah at such a moment, this shows that he is connected to Allah, blessed and exalted, throughout his whole life, never failing in remembrance with Allah, blessed and exalted.

The remembering tongue remains remembering

The Prophet ﷺ tells us that the tongue that remembers Allah in such states, and in times of crisis, will go on remembering Allah, blessed and exalted, all along the way. Among this is his saying ﷺ: «اللَّهُمَّ رَحْمَتَكَ أَرْجُو، فَلَا تَكِلْنِي إِلَى نَفْسِي طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ، وَأَصْلِحْ لِي شَأْنِي كُلَّهُ، لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ» ("O Allah, it is Your mercy that I hope for, so do not leave me to myself for the blink of an eye, and set right all my affairs; there is no god but You").^[2]

Calling for help

It is narrated that the Prophet ﷺ used to repeat: «يَا حَيُّ يَا قَيُّومُ، بِرَحْمَتِكَ أَسْتَغِيثُ» ("O Ever-Living, O Self-Sustaining, by Your mercy I call for help").^[3] When we speak of the word istighāthah, it is seeking help in the hardest moments of crisis; it is not merely a request, it is a cry for help. O Lord of the worlds, rain down these mercies upon us. «يَا حَيُّ يَا قَيُّومُ، بِرَحْمَتِكَ أَسْتَغِيثُ» ("O Ever-Living, O Self-Sustaining, by Your mercy I call for help"). Then he ﷺ mentioned: «لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ» ("There is no god but You; glory be to You; indeed I have been among the wrongdoers").^[4]

Problems between spouses

And in closing: the problems of this world, and especially the problems that arise between spouses, are not resolved by much quarrelling, nor by the passing of a long time, nor by raised voices, nor by one dispute after another.

I ask Allah, glorified and exalted, to set right our affairs and yours.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: What the speaker mentions here is narrated in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both); the speaker did not attribute it, and the wording came in the transcript broken up by audio noise. Among its wordings in the two Ṣaḥīḥs: «لَوْ أَنَّ أَحَدَهُمْ إِذَا أَرَادَ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ أَهْلَهُ قَالَ: بِاسْمِ اللَّهِ، اللَّهُمَّ جَنِّبْنَا الشَّيْطَانَ، وَجَنِّبِ الشَّيْطَانَ مَا رَزَقْتَنَا، فَإِنَّهُ إِنْ يُقَدَّرْ بَيْنَهُمَا وَلَدٌ فِي ذَلِكَ لَمْ يَضُرَّهُ شَيْطَانٌ أَبَدًا» ("If, when one of them intends to come to his wife, he says: In the name of Allah; O Allah, keep the devil away from us, and keep the devil away from what You provide us, then if a child is decreed for them from that, no devil will ever harm him"). ^[2]: Editor's documentation: Narrated by Abū Dāwūd from Abū Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him), in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «دَعَوَاتُ الْمَكْرُوبِ: اللَّهُمَّ رَحْمَتَكَ أَرْجُو…» ("The supplications of the distressed: O Allah, it is Your mercy that I hope for…"); the speaker did not attribute it. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Narrated by al-Tirmidhī from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) in the wording: «كَانَ إِذَا كَرَبَهُ أَمْرٌ قَالَ: يَا حَيُّ يَا قَيُّومُ، بِرَحْمَتِكَ أَسْتَغِيثُ» ("Whenever a matter distressed him, he would say: O Ever-Living, O Self-Sustaining, by Your mercy I call for help"); the speaker did not attribute it. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: This is the supplication of Dhū al-Nūn, Yūnus (peace be upon him), in Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ, verse 87. Al-Tirmidhī narrated from Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «دَعْوَةُ ذِي النُّونِ إِذْ دَعَا وَهُوَ فِي بَطْنِ الْحُوتِ: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ، فَإِنَّهُ لَمْ يَدْعُ بِهَا رَجُلٌ مُسْلِمٌ فِي شَيْءٍ قَطُّ إِلَّا اسْتَجَابَ اللَّهُ لَهُ» ("The supplication of Dhū al-Nūn when he called out from the belly of the whale: There is no god but You; glory be to You; indeed I have been among the wrongdoers. No Muslim man ever supplicates with it for anything without Allah answering him").