The Sunnah concerning entering and leaving the house

Fatwa Date : Muharram 5, 1437 / 19-10-2015

Question
What is the Sunnah as regards entering and leaving one's own house? Should we go
out with the right or the leg foot first? Is this supported by any hadith of Pr
ophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi was sallam? We know that there is a supplication at t
he time of sleeping: Allahumma (Bismika/Bi-ismika) amutu wa ahia (O Allah, in Yo
ur name do we die and live). I am a little bit confused about the correct pronun
ciation of 'Bismika' or 'Bi-ismika', which one is correct?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is
none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad , is His Slave and Messe
nger.
Part of the Sunnah of entering or leaving ones house is supplicating. We have men
tioned the reported supplication of entering ones house in fatwa 278833; so pleas
e refer to it.
As for the supplication of leaving the house, there are authentic wordings that
were reported from the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi was sallam, including the fo
llowing:
1) Umm Salamah may Allaah be pleased with her reported, "Whenever the Prop
het sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) left my
house, he would raise his eyes to the sky and say, Allaahumma inni aoothu bika a
n adhilla aw udhall, aw azill aw uzall, aw athlim aw uthlam, aw ajhal aw yujhal a
layy.'" (O my Lord, I seek refuge in You from falling into error or going astray
, or wrongdoing (others) or being wronged, and from behaving or being treated in
an ignorant manner.) [Abu Daawood, An-Nasaa'i, At-Tirmithi, and Ibn Maajah; thi
s is the wording of Abu Daawood]
2) Anas ibn Maalik may Allaah be pleased with him narrated that the Prophe
t , said, "When a man goes out of his house and says, 'Bismillaahi tawakkaltu ala
Allaah wala hawla wala quwwata illa billaah,' (In the name of Allaah, I place m
y trust in Allaah; there is no power and no strength save in Allaah.) then the f
ollowing is said to him, 'You are guided, defended and protected.' So the devils
will move out of his way, and another devil will say, 'How can you deal with a
man who has been guided, defended, and protected (by Allaah)?'"[Abu Daawood - Al
-Albaani graded it Saheeh (good)]
As for entering or leaving the house with the right foot first, the Maaliki scho
lar Khaleel ibn Is-haaq, regarding the etiquette of entering the bathroom, said,
"It is recommended to enter with the left foot and leave with the right foot, u
nlike entering and leaving the mosque and house." There is no specific evidence
for this; rather, it is based on the general statement of Aaishah may Allaah be
pleased with her who said, "The Prophet , loved to start with the right side
in all his affairs; in wearing his sandals, in combing (his hair) and in perfor
ming ablution." [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
As for the correct pronunciation of the word that you asked about, it is to say
Bismika , and not Bi-ismika .
Allaah Knows best.