No proof that jinn enter houses through impurity attached to shoes

3-1-2018 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum. Is it superstitious to think that jinn might follow whatever impurity has attached to the shoes and that carrying it into the house might bring them into the house as well? Is there any ruling that says that it is better to leave shoes outside of the house? I look forward to your response, and may Allah reward you.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The jinn are part of the world of the Unseen; Allah, the Exalted, informs us that the jinn see us but we do not see them. He says (what means): {Indeed, he (Satan) sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them.} [Quran 27:7]

Therefore, nothing related to the jinn can be affirmed expect by virtue of a religious text; otherwise, it would be considered guessing at the Unseen. As far as we know, there is no evidence that the jinn follow the impurities attached to shoes and enter houses because of that. Leaving the shoes outside the house is not an act of the Sunnah; rather, it is required to clean the shoes when someone wishes to pray while wearing them. Cleaning them is done by rubbing them against the floor, as indicated in a hadith.

Abu Saʻeed, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, sallallahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said, “When anyone of you comes to the mosque, let him turn his sandals and look at them. If he finds filth on them, let him wipe it off against the ground and then pray in them.” [Ahmad and others]

Allah knows best.