Thus they came away with nothing but loss and degradation—this in the life of this world. As for the Hereafter, their Fire will afford them neither coolness nor relief; they will receive in it no greeting and no peace. Rather, it is exactly as Allah, Exalted is He, has said: “Indeed, it is an evil abode and an evil resting-place” (al-Furqān 25:66).

Al-Bukhārī (1) relates: ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mūsā— or Ibn Salām on his authority—told us; Ibn Jurayj narrated to us from ‘Abd al-Ḥamīd ibn Jubayr, from Sa‘īd ibn al-Musayyib, from Umm Shurayk, that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) ordered the killing of the house gecko (al-wazagh) and said, “It used to blow upon Abraham (peace be upon him).”

Muslim (2) also transmits it through the narration of Ibn Jurayj. Both of them, together with al-Nasāʾī and Ibn Mājah (3), transmit it through the isnād of Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah from ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Jubayr ibn Shaybah.

Ahmad (4) said: Muḥammad ibn Bakr narrated to us; Ibn Jurayj narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Umayyah informed me that Nāfiʿ, the freedman of Ibn ʿUmar, informed him that ʿĀʾishah told him that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “Kill the house gecko, for it blew the fire upon Abraham.” He added: So ʿĀʾishah used to kill them.

Ahmad (5) also said: Ismāʿīl narrated to us; Ayyūb narrated to us from Nāfiʿ that a woman once entered upon ʿĀʾishah and saw a spear set up. She asked, “What is this spear?” She replied, “We use it to kill geckos.” She then related from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) that when Abraham was cast into the fire, every animal on earth tried to put it out for him except the gecko, which began to blow upon it; therefore the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) commanded us to kill it. Ahmad alone reports it through these two chains.

Ahmad (6) further said: ʿAffān narrated to us; Jarīr narrated to us; Nāfiʿ narrated to us; Sāʾibah (7)—the freedwoman of al-Fākih ibn al-Mughīrah—told me: I entered upon ʿĀʾishah and saw a spear lying in her house. I said, “Mother of the Believers, what do you do with this spear?” She answered, “It is for these geckos—we kill them with it. For the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) told us that when Abraham was thrown into the fire, there was no creature on earth except that it tried to extinguish the fire for him, save the gecko, which kept blowing upon it. Therefore the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) ordered us to kill it.”