Islamic Manners Before and During Sleep/Nap - اسلام میں سونے کے آداب

The Islamic Manners Before and During Sleep/Nap

Sleeping is a necessary process without which any living creature cannot exist, because if a man works hard and works all day, his body requires sleep for a particular time so that the human body can be ready to work again after full rest. Therefore, in modern science as well as in Islam it has been very important to have a regular sleep. Some precautions before sleeping in Islam have been emphasized on sleep conditions; by following these we can take good and complete sleep, which is very beneficial for health.

Sleeping at day time or night time, there are four sleeping manners in Islam before and during the sleeping:

      1.     Sleep in ablution (Wudoo):

Narrated by Ibn-e Abbas that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “Clean these bodies, Allah bless you cleanliness”. The person who sleeps in a state of ablution (Wudoo) surely an angel spends whole night with him and whenever a person turns the side then angel said that “O Allah, forgive him, surely he was slept in the state of ablution”.

      
      2.     Waggling/Cleansing the mattress or bed before sleeping:

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) encouraged Muslims to clean or tidy up the bed by shaking the mattress with a piece of cloth.

Narrated Aby Hurairah: The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: When anyone of you goes to bed, he should shake out his bed with the inside waist sheet, for he does not know what has come on to it after him, and then he should say:

“In Your Name I have laid down on my side and with your help I will raise it. If You take my soul, then have mercy on it. If You release it, then preserve it in the manner in which You preserve the men of right action.” (Al-Bukhari)

Accepting this procedure before sleeping can be prevented from breathing difficulties because such an act would remove the dust, mites or dirt from the bed. Better inhaling actions will lead to better oxygen supply through blood circulation during sleep.
Nervous system, especially the brain, which usually receives a total of 20 percent of the blood pumped by heart, will benefit from the process, apart from insects being clean / safe etc.

      3.     Prayer before sleeping:

When Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) went to bed for sleep he kept his right hand under his cheek and pray the following verse:

“Oh Allah! I die and live by Your name.”

     4.     Islamic Practice of Sleep / Sleep Positions:

According to the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) two sleeping positions were liked by him.  

(a) Lying on one’s right side and

(b) Lying on the back side with one leg on another.

Many times Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) would be on his right side, with his right palm placed under his cheek and this sleep position is also described in some hadiths:

It was narrated by Hafsa:

“When the Messenger of Allah would lie down, he would place his right hand under his right cheek, and he used to fast on Mondays and Thursdays.” (Al-Nasai)

It is expected that some of the major internal organs lying on the right side can improve the stability, which are physically placed in the left part of the body. For example, the main digestive organ stomach will not be forced physically by other internal organs (such as liver, intestine and pancreas) on the right side. Similarly the heart on the left side of the body can pump blood into the body without being stressed by other organs in the chest.

As for the other sleeping position assumed by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), in the following Hadith:

Narrated ‘Abbad bin Tamim:

“that his uncle said, I saw Allah’s Messenger lying flat (on his back) in the mosque with one leg on the other.Narrated Sa’id bin Al-Musaiyab that ‘Umar and ‘Usman used to do the same.”

In contrast Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) forbids lying face down, warning that this is the sleeping posture that God hates.

Narrate Abu Hirrairah that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) saw a man lying on his stomach so he said:

“Indeed such lying position is not loved by Allah.”(Al-Tirmidhi)

Anatomically, such a position would cause physical stress to internal organs in the chest and abdominal cavity.