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Hadith

If any of you wakes up from his sleep, let him blow water out of his nose three times, as the devil spends the night on his nostrils

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رضي الله عنه أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «إِذَا اسْتَيْقَظَ أَحَدُكُمْ مِنْ مَنَامِهِ فَلْيَسْتَنْثِرْ ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ، فَإِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ يَبِيتُ عَلَى خَيَاشِيمِهِ».

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If any of you wakes up from his sleep, let him blow water out of his nose three times, as the devil spends the night on his nostrils."

Agreed upon · hadeethenc:8377

Grading: Authentic (as published by the source; the grader is not named)

Explanation from the source
The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) urges anyone who wakes up from his sleep to make Istinthar, i.e., blowing water out of the nose after sniffing it, three times because the devil spends the night on the nostril, which is the whole nose.
  • It is prescribed for anyone who wakes up from sleep to make Istinthār to remove the devil's traces from his nose, and if he wants to make ablution, then the command to make Istinthār is more confirmed in this case.
  • Istinthār completes the benefit of Istinshāq (sniffing water), because the latter cleans the nose from the inside, whereas the former brings such filth out with the water.
  • This is restricted to night sleep, as indicated by the words "spends the night,"  which only occurs during the night sleep and because one is more likely to sleep deeply and for a long period at night.
  • The Hadīth bears evidence that the devil accompanies man but man does not feel it.

Topics: Ablution

Source: HadeethEnc.com, published by HadeethEnc.com. Version API snapshot retrieved 2026-10-11 (the source publishes no version number) (retrieved 2026-10-11). Published by HadeethEnc.com. Shown unmodified; not reviewed by a scholar.