Horn of Satan

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Hadith About Aisha’s House and Satan’s Horns [A Sunni Perspective]

One of Shias' favorites is to claim that the “horns of Satan” or the “head of Satan” would emerge from Aisha’s house. This is based on their horrible misinterpretation of Sunni Hadith which they then propagate amongst the ignorant ones amongst the Sunnis.

Let us read the false translations and even falser interpretations made by the Shia propaganda website, Al-Islam.org:


The Prophet of Allah (PBUH&HF) warned the Ummah against her on several occasions…

Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith: 4.336

Narrated Abdullah:

The Prophet stood up and delivered a sermon, and pointed to the house of Aisha, and said: “Fitna (trouble/sedition) is right here,” saying three times, “from where the side of the Satan’s head comes out.”

In the above tradition the Prophet predicted the sedition which Aisha will bring for Muslims and that she will be seduced by Satan for instigating the first civil war in the history of Islam.

Muslim has also related in his Sahih from Ikrima Ibn Ammar from Salim from Ibn Umar who said:

“The Prophet of Allah (PBUH&HF) emerged from the house of Aisha and said. ‘The pivot of disbelief is from here, where the horns of Satan will rise.’”

Sunni reference: Sahih Muslim, Arabic version, the Chapter of Seditions, v4, p2229


They argue that the Prophet predicted that Satan’s horns would emerge from Aisha’s house.

[ Actually the tradition refers to Aisha as the Horn of Satan.]

The Hadiths in Question

In fact, the Hadiths in question have nothing at all to do with Aisha, but rather the Prophet was simply pointing in the direction of the East towards Iraq (i.e. the Persian Empire at that time). An analogy of this is if a man asks which direction is Qiblah, and his friend points towards a certain house on the street. This simply means that Qiblah is in that direction. The Prophet did not at all mean that Aisha’s house would be the source of Satan’s horns, but rather he meant the East. In relation to where the Prophet was standing, Aisha’s house simply happened to be in the direction of the East.


Now let us reproduce the Hadiths from both Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari. We read:

Sahih Muslim, Book 041, Number 6938:

Ibn Umar reported that he heard Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying while he had turned his face towards the East: “Behold, turmoil would appear from this side, from where the horns of Satan would appear.”

Sahih Muslim, Book 041, Number 6939:

Ibn Umar reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) stood by the door (of the apartment of) gafsa and, pointing towards the East, he said: “The turmoil would appear from this side, viz. where the horns of Satan would appear,” and he uttered these words twice or thrice; and Ubaidullah in his narration said: the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) had been standing by the door of Aisha.

Sahih Muslim, Book 041, Number 6940:

Salim b. Abdullah reported on the authority of his father that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him), while turning his face towards the East, said: “The turmoil would appear from this side; verily, the turmoil would appear from this side; verily, the turmoil would appear from this side–the side where appear the horns of Satan.”

Sahih Muslim, Book 041, Number 6941:

Ibn Umar reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) came out from the house of Aisha and said: “It would be from this side (pointing to the East) that there would appear the height of unbelief, viz. where appear the horns of Satan.”

Sahih Muslim, Book 041, Number 6942:

Ibn Umar reported: I heard Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying while pointing his hands towards the East: “The turmoil would appear from this side; verily, the turmoil would appear from this side (he repeated it thrice) where appear the horns of Satan.”

Sahih Muslim, Book 041, Number 6943:

Ibn Fudail reported on the authority of his father that he heard Salim b. Abdullah b. Umar as saying: O people of Iraq, how strange it is that you ask about the minor sins but commit major sins? I heard from my father Abdullah b. Umar, narrating that he heard Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying while pointing his hand towards the East: “Verily, the turmoil would come from this side, from where appear the horns of Satan and you would strike the necks of one another…”

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 53, Number 336:

Narrated Abdullah:

The Prophet stood up and delivered a sermon, and pointing towards Aisha’s house (i.e. Eastwards), he said thrice, “Affliction (will appear from) here,” and, “from where the side of the Satan’s head comes out (i.e. from the East).”

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 88, Number 212:

Narrated Salim’s father:

The Prophet stood up beside the pulpit (and pointed with his finger towards the East) and said, “Afflictions are there! Afflictions are there, from where the side of the head of Satan comes out,” or said, “..the side of the sun..” (i.e. the sun emerges from the East)

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 88, Number 213:

Narrated Ibn Umar:

I heard Allah’s Apostle while he was facing the East, saying, “Verily! Afflictions are there, from where the side of the head of Satan comes out.”

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 88, Number 214:

Narrated Ibn Umar:

The Prophet said, “O Allah! Bestow Your blessings on our Sham! O Allah! Bestow Your blessings on our Yemen.” The People said, “And also on our Najd (i.e. Iraq).” He said, “O Allah! Bestow Your blessings on our Sham (North)! O Allah! Bestow Your blessings on our Yemen (South).” The people said, “O Allah’s Apostle! And also on our Najd (i.e. Iraq).” I think the third time the Prophet said, “There (in the Najd, i.e. Iraq) is the place of earthquakes and afflictions and from there comes out the side of the head of Satan.”

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Iraq was at that time referred to by the Arabs as the Najd, as stated in “Najd Qarnu ash-Shaytan”. This has been stated by al-Khattabi, al-Kirmani, al-Ayni, an-Nawawi, Ibn Hajr and others. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajr said:

“Al-Khattabi said: ‘For the one who is in Medinah, then his Najd would be the desert of Iraq and its regions (baadiya al-Iraaq wa Nawaaheehaa) for this is to the East of the People of Medinah.”

This is made abundantly clear by the same narration recorded in alternate wording:

Al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer, Compiled by Imam Al-Tabarani:

Narrated by Ibn Abbas:

The Prophet supplicated and said, “O Allah bestow your blessings on our Shaam and Yemen.” A person from amongst the people said, “O Prophet of Allah, and Iraq?” He said, “Indeed there (in Iraq) is the Horn of Satan, and the trials and tribulations will come like mounting waves, and indeed harshness is in the East.”

“Pointed Towards”, Not “Pointed To”

It is Hadith Number 336 of Vol.4, Book 53 of Sahih Bukhari that the Shia propagandists rely on most, namely because the translator used by the USC website (Muhsin Khan) made a mistake in his translation. He translates it as “pointed to Aisha’s house” instead of “pointed towards Aisha’s house.” However, the proper translation is “pointed towards” and not “pointed to.” In the Arabic text of said Hadith, the words are “fa-ashaara nahwa (towards) maskani `a’ishah” and not “fa-ashaara ila (to) maskani `a’ishah”. Therefore, we see that the Prophet was simply pointing towards the direction of Aisha’s house, and not at Aisha’s house specifically.