Should a Muslim place his/her right foot first when leaving his/her home for prayer?

Assalamualaikum; It is, indeed, islamic to place the right foot first when entering the masjid and to place the left foot first when leaving the masjid. Is the practice the same with regard to entering and leaving one's own home? Or, should a Muslim place his/her right foot first when leaving the home for namaz in a masjid?

Dear Brother / Sister,

As the Prophet (pbuh) used his right hand for eating and drinking (Jami’ as-Saghir, 1/281), he also advised to take with the right hand, to hold with the right hand, to begin from the right while putting on shoes and clothes and performing wudu (ablution). (Jami’ as-Saghir, 1/286, 1/469)

So, it is Sunnah (the practice of the Prophet) to use the right hand for eating and drinking and to begin from the right to do all other acts.

It is useful to distinguish between “beginning from the right” and “using the right hand”. It is Sunnah to begin from the right in several acts; but it is permissible to use the left hand or the left foot when there is necessity. For example, we begin from the right while putting on shoes but left shoe is also got on just after that. We begin from the right while performing wudu but the left parts are washed immediately after the right sides and they are not ignored. 

Using the right hand “all the time” is Sunnah only in eating and drinking. In other acts (including writing), on condition of starting from the right, one of the more capable of the two hands can be used. Under those circumstances, it is Sunnah to cleanse oneself (after urinating and defecating) with the left hand and to begin from the right in all other acts and to use the right hand for eating and drinking. On the other hand, a person who does not act in that way is not a sinner.

 

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