Dua Before Intimacy

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) relates: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'When one of you is about to be intimate with his wife and says, Bi-smi llāh, Allāhumma jannibnā sh-shayṭāna..., and a child is granted to them from that union, Satan cannot harm it'" (Sahih al-Bukhari, Da'awat 54; Sahih Muslim, Nikah 116). This hadith shows the importance of beginning every act with the Basmalah and of seeking refuge with Allah from Satan.

This dua should be made beforehand, not during the union itself. Some narrations carry more emphatic wording: "Satan will never harm it" (Sahih al-Bukhari, Nikah 66), and "Satan will not gain power over it" (Sahih al-Bukhari, Bad' al-Khalq 11).

Intimacy between spouses is a blessing made lawful and legitimate in Islam. To remember Allah before this blessing too, and to ask for the protection of the child to be born, is among the finest expressions of Islamic morality. This dua is a prophetic teaching that protects the institution of the family, founded on the marriage bond, from the interference of Satan. In the Noble Qur'an it is said, "Indeed, over My servants you have no authority" (al-Hijr 42).