taking toddler for Maghrib salaah
Assalamu alaikum. Is it safe to take a toddler for Maghrib salaah to the masjid? A friend of mine says that jinn roam around Maghrib time and this is dangerous for small children.
Answer
Wa ʿAlaykumus Salām Wa Raḥmatullāhi Wa Barakātuh
The Prophet ﷺ said: “When the darkness of the night envelops–or it becomes nightfall–withhold your children (from going outside). Verily, the jinn spread out at this time. Then, when part of the night has passed, let them go outside. And lock the doors whilst mentioning Allah’s name. Verily, the devil cannot open a locked door.” [Bukhārī]
Based on the above narration, it is safer for a toddler to remain indoors rather than roaming about outside the confines of one’s home at this specific time.
It should also be noted that it is not advisable to take toddlers to the Masjid for the following reasons:
- It is possible that they might soil the Masjid with urine; hence rendering certain places of the Masjid impure, as a result, if any person performs Ṣalāh on these impure areas, then his Ṣalāh would be compromised.
- Toddlers are generally very active and noisy; hence, they would disturb others who have come to pray and disrupt their focus, concentration, and attention in Ṣalāh, thus violating the sanctity of the Masjid.
If it is extremely necessary, then a toddler may be brought to the Masjid, such as in the event where there is no one else available to see to him/her, whilst at the same time ensuring to the best of one’s ability that he/she is well-behaved and does not soil the Masjid.