Section: When do demons spread out?
15
Jabir ibn 'Abdullah (RA) narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "When night falls (or when it is evening), stop your children from going out, for the devils spread out at that time. But when an hour of the night has passed, release them and close the doors and mention Allah's Name, for Satan does not open a closed door. Tie up the mouth of your water-skin and mention Allah's Name. Cover your containers and utensils and mention Allah's Name. Cover them even if only by placing something across it, and extinguish your lamps". [Recorded by al-Bukhari (10/88) and Muslim (13/185)]In this Hadith, there are five commands: to stop the children from going out; to close doors; to tie the mouths of water-skins; to cover containers; to mention the name of Allah; and to extinguish lamps at bedtime. The Prophet (ﷺ) has shown the reason for the first and second commands, in this Hadith; the reason for the third and fourth commands were explained in another narration: “Cover your containers and utensils, tie the mouth of your water-skin, close the doors and extinguish your lamps; for Satan cannot untie the mouth of the water-skin, or open a closed door or uncover a container (And if you don't have anything to cover your utensil) you may put across it something (e.g. a piece of wood.)" [Recorded by al-Bukhari (6/350) and Muslim (13/184)]; as for the fifth command, its reason was shown in a Hadith transmitted by Abu Dawud, on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas "A rat dragged away the wick of the candle and dropped it on the rug on which the Prophet (ﷺ) was sitting; so it burnt a spot a size of a coin. The Prophet (ﷺ) then said: "When you go to bed, extinguish your lamps, for Satan encourages such things as rats to do this, in order to burn you”. Jabir ibn 'Abdullah (RA) narrated another Hadith directly from the Prophet (ﷺ): "Do not let your children and animals out from the time of sunset until the end of the darkness of 'Isha'; for the devils spread out in that time”? [Recorded by Muslim]Ibn al-Juzayy (R) said: "The reason why they spread in that time is that they can move more easily at night than during the day, because darkness gathers evil forces. From this context comes the Hadith of Abu Dharr, in which the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “The black dog is a devil". [Fath al-Bari (6/342)]