Muslim Housewarming Gifts: 12 Ideas Better Than a Candle

Gift Guides

September is moving season, which means somebody in your circle just got keys and is currently eating dinner off a cardboard box.

We have moved four times as a married couple, and we can tell you exactly which housewarming gifts survived every move and which ones quietly did not make the second box. The candles did not make it. Neither did the decorative bowl.

What did make it: the things that either went on a wall and stayed there, or got used every single day. That is the whole test for a good Muslim housewarming gift. Will it be on a wall in three years, or in a mug rotation in three years? If neither, pick something else.

For the walls

1Ayatul Kursi wall art

The default first thing that goes up in a Muslim home, and for good reason. We like the three piece framed canvas set from $19.99 if you are gifting on a budget, or the metallic version at $99.95 if this is your sister and you are trying to make a point.

2The 99 Names plaque

A 9.5 by 12 inch plaque from $15.48 that fits in the awkward small wall by the hallway that nobody knows what to do with. Every home has that wall.

3The three holy sites in wood

A wooden piece showing the Kaaba, Masjid an Nabawi and Masjid al Aqsa from $54.90. This is the one that makes visiting parents stop in the hallway.

For the daily stuff

4A key rack with a dua on it

Our favourite gift on this entire list, because it is the least glamorous and the most used. A five hook key rack with a travel prayer on it, from $19.98. Everyone in that house will touch it twice a day forever.

5A mug with their name in Arabic

Type any name and we put it on the mug. Our Personalized Arabic Name Mug starts at $19.95 and is the single most gifted thing we make. New home, new mug, and it is unmistakably theirs from day one.

6A matching pair for a newly married couple

If they moved in after the nikkah, the Half His Deen and Half Her Deen mug set at $29.95 does the job. Two mugs, one joke, zero risk.

7The chai mug

For the friend whose entire personality is the four o'clock cup. Chai Love You, from $16.95.

8A tote that greets people at the door

The GOLD Assalam Alaikum Tote at $19.99 lives on the hook by the door and holds a shocking amount of groceries. Practical, and it says the right thing before they do.

For the prayer corner

9A prayer rug gift set

A boxed set with a rug, a Quran and prayer beads from $29.99. If the new place has a spare corner, this is how it becomes a prayer corner. We wrote a whole piece on making space for prayer in a busy American home if they need ideas.

10A perfume set for the entryway drawer

The BellaVita OUD Experience set, four small bottles from $29.99. Jummah ready without anyone having to think about it.

For the first time they host

11A proper box of dates

Chocolate covered stuffed dates at $39.95, or one of the Bateel boxes if you want the packaging to do half the talking. Bring these the night they invite people over. Then read our guide to hosting a South Asian dinner party and send it to them, because they are about to need it.

12Something with a photograph in it

A customizable photograph shadow box at $89.95 is the big gift, the one that goes on the shelf in the living room. Best from a group, best for a first home, best when the photo is from the wedding.

What to write on the card

Nobody knows what to say on a housewarming card. Here is what we use, and it has never once landed wrong: May this house be full of good food, loud guests and easy mornings. That is it. Say the thing you actually hope for them.

If you want more on making a house feel like a home rather than an address, our piece on nine small hospitality habits for a welcoming Muslim home is the one readers send to each other most.