#712: What to do when a Snake comes into One`s Home

QUESTION:

“Asalamu alaikum warahmatulloh wabarokatu. What is the Islamic way of sending out snake from one’s house…Someone told me that the snake should be asked to leave 3rice..don’t know how this is done and I can’t bear having a snake in my house. Please I need clarification”

ANSWER:

Wa Alaykum Salām Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh.

Alhamdulillāh.

With respect to snakes, the Ulamā have three positions. The first, that snakes are to be killed wherever they are found in whatever manner.

Their proof is the Hadīth of ‘Abdullah bn ‘Umar that was recorded by both Imām Al-Bukhārī and Muslim that he heard the Rasūl – Salallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam – say on the Minbar:
اقْتُلُوا الْحَيَّاتِ

“Kill the Snakes”

Then Ibn Umar said:
“And since then, I never spared a snake that I see except that I killed it.”

And the Hadīth recorded by Imām Abū Dāwud – rahimahullāh – from Ibn Mas’ūd – radiyallāhu ‘anhu – that the Rasūl -salallāhu alayhi wasallam – said:

اقْتُلُوا الْحَيَّاتِ كُلَّهُنَّ ، فَمَنْ خَافَ ثَأْرَهُنَّ فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي

“Kill the Snakes, all of them. And whosoever fears their revenge is not from me”.

The Second Position, that all snakes are to be killed except the Snakes in the homes.

Imām Nāfi’ – rahimahullāh – said:
“Ibn ‘Umar used to kill all snakes until Abū Lubābah narrated to us that the Rasūl -salallāhu alayhi wasallam – forbade the killing of the Snakes that reside in the homes. Then he refrained from that.”
This is recorded by Imām Muslim in the Sahīh.

And in another Hadīth the Rasūl -salallāhu alayhi wasallam – said:
“Indeed in Madīnah are Jinn that became Muslim and are snakes in form, if then you see any of them in your homes, warn them three times, if again you see them, then kill them because they are Shaytān.”
Several other Hadīth imply this.

The Third Position: that the forbiddance to kill Snakes that come into the Homes are specific to only the Snakes of Madīnah.

Imām Ibn ‘AbdilBarr Al-Mālikī – rahimahullāh – referred to this position in Al-Istidhkār.

Their evidence for this is that in the Hadīth forbidding the killing of house snakes before warning them, there is a mention of Madīnah. But the third position is controverted by saying that though the Rasūl -salallāhu alayhi wasallam – mentioned Madīnah, the reason for the command to spare them is that they are Muslims. And there are Muslim Jinns everywhere, in Madīnah and outside of it. And this is why the majority of the Ulamā mentioned the Second Position and considered it the correct one.

Ibn ‘AbdilBarr Al-Mālikī – said:
“Mālik said: what is most preferred to me is that those that live in homes be warned and given respite three days, in Madīnah and other than it. And that they be not warned and granted respite in other than it.”

That is because the Ulamā also differed regarding the three times that is referred, as was mentioned by Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalānī in the Fat’h. Some have said it meant three days as Mālik held. Some have said it meant three times without regard to the days. Qādī ‘Ibn Al-‘Arabī – rahimahullāh – strengthened that it is three times in Ahkāmu Al-Qur’ān and this is what is stronger.

How then is this warning to be made?

There is no specific words that were narrated from the Rasūl -salallāhu alayhi wasallam. What matters is to say those words in calm language and with the right intention of warning a Muslim from your harm. Some of the Ulamā have said that this should be said in Arabic if you can.

And what should be said is “I warn you to leave our home and caution you to not harm us” or words of it’s like. And in the Wordings attributed to Mālik, it is to say:
“I caution you by Allāh and by the Last Day that you should leave our abode and not harm us.”
And Allāh knows best.

But as mentioned, there is no wording that must be said, no Hadith has proven that.

Lastly, it should be known that the command to warn the Snakes in the Homes exempts two kinds of snakes. They were mentioned in the Hadith recorded by Imām Muslim from Sālim the Student of Ibn ‘Umar. The first is the Abtar.

The Abtar is the Short tailed snake. Some of the Scholars said it is mostly bluish in colour.

The second is the Tufyatayn. And that is the snake that has two stripes on it’s back. It is mentioned to be very smooth and poisonous.

And Allāh knows best.

Bārakallāhu Fīkum
Jazākumullāhu khayran.

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