Angels in the Home

On one occasion, while Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was out on a journey, Hazrat Aaishah (radhiyallahu ‘anha) hung a curtain on the door of her home. This curtain had pictures of living things, such as animals, on it. At that time, Hazrat Aaishah (radhiyallahu ‘anha) did not know that pictures of living things are haraam in Islam.

When Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) came home after the journey, and he saw the curtain with the pictures, he was not happy. Hazrat Aaishah (radhiyallahu ‘anha) made salaam to him, but he did not reply to the salaam. Instead, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) immediately went to the curtain and tore it.

When Hazrat Aaishah (radhiyallahu ‘anha) saw that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was very displeased, she realised that she had done something wrong and had made a big mistake, and this is why he was unhappy with her. Hazrat Aaishah (radhiyallahu ‘anha) had true love for Allah Ta‘ala and Rasulullah (sallallah ‘alaihi wasallam), so she did not want them to be unhappy with her. She knew that she had made a big mistake, and if you make a mistake, then you must say that you are sorry and ask for forgiveness.

So, she said to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), “O Rasul of Allah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)! I ask Allah Ta‘ala and His Rasul (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) to please forgive me! And please explain to me the mistake that I made!”

Hazrat Aaishah (radhiyallahu ‘anha) did not only ask Allah Ta‘ala and Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) to forgive her, she also asked Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) to explain her mistake to her. The reason she did this was so that she could learn her mistake and make sure that she does not make the same mistake again!

Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) then explained to her that her mistake was to keep pictures of living things, because making and keeping pictures of living things is a very big sin. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said to her, “O Aaishah! The people who make pictures of living things will get the worst punishment on the Day of Qiyaamah.” (Saheeh Bukhaari #2105 and #5954 and Mustakhraj Abi Awaanah #9187)

Because making and keeping pictures of living things is haraam, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) hated these types of pictures. That is why on the occasion when Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) conquered Makkah Mukarramah, when he entered the Ka’bah Shareef, then he saw that the disbelievers had drawn pictures of living things inside the Ka’bah Shareef. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was very angry and told the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) to erase all these haraam pictures.

When a person has pictures of living things in his home, such as pictures of people and animals, then the angels that protect us and make du‘aa for us do not come into the home and be with us. Because of the haraam pictures, the angels go far away, and then the evil shaitaans that trouble people come into the house.

From this, we learn that we must not have books, blankets, clothes or anything else with pictures of living things. Also, we must not have toys that look like living things and have heads, such as toy animals, teddy bears, dolls and other similar toys, and we must not watch clips and movies because they have living things in them. All these are haraam and will cause Allah Ta‘ala to become angry with us.

If we stay far away from these types of pictures, then insha Allah, the angels will always be with us, and Allah Ta‘ala will be happy with us.