Assalamualaikum,
What do you think about your sleep time? Are you five to six hours sleeper or seven to eight hour sleeper? Or more or less than I'm said? How about your quality of sleep? Are you satisfied enough with the amount of your sleep? When I'm early 20-an, I really focus on my quantity of sleep. I can sleep anywhere, everywhere I put my place on. And now after around 28 years old, I realized I should focus more on my quality of sleep to versus my quality of health. Then, I put myself in sleep for only five to hours per day and do the rest for productive activities. Here, I want to explore and search more about the sleep pattern, Islamic thought and built up a healthy sleep lifestyle habit. Leggo!
I still in progress about new habit-recheck the preparation for next day activities. Why I'm doing this is because I want to plan my day ahead of time, and when the day happened I know what to expect either for good nor bad part. Later, I just do as exact plans and I expect less surprised for unnecessary things. You know what, I really enjoy doing these, its fun even to small things; prepare my bag, ready my clothes, check out what foods I will eat and etc. It's really play with my mind to be exciting for the next day. Everyone should do this!
The above part you could make it before Isya'. This is because after Isya', lessen or no activity involved. It is pretty hard actually because some big events happened during this time, the best TV show too, the late night hang out with friends and etc. The Prophet (pbuh) said, “One should not sleep before the night prayer, nor have discussions after it” [SB 574]. Also, mandatory to pray Isya' before go to bed. Yes, you can imagine how people hates delayed in their demand; it makes sense to our Creator. Allah loves punctuality in Muslims prayer.
Sleep after Isya' impersonate how early the person end their day. This is because if you sleep early, there is no excuses not to wake up for Fajr prayer. It depends on your country time, in Malaysia, to get normal seven to eight hours sleep, a person should go to bed around nine or ten o'clock night time. I preferred sleep a little only or you better die if you want to sleep in entire period of life. The Prophet (pbuh) was asked, “Do people of Heaven sleep?” He answered: “Sleep is the brother of death. People of Heaven do not sleep”
In preparation yourself with brush teeth and flossing, wash face and apply night cream, took most comfortable clothes; you need to clean the bed before laying down. Prophet (pbuh) said, “When any one of you goes to bed, he should take hold of the hem of his lower garment and then should clean (his bed) with the help of that and then should recite the name of Allāh” [SM 271]. It is also to make sure no sharp objects like your kids toys or book or pens or pencil or water bottle or even your own phone on the bed. Shut out yourself from all the devices or world and bring calmness to sleep in. Prophet (pbuh) said, “Put out lamps when you go to bed, shut the doors, and cover water and food containers” [SB 5301]
What is sleeping position recommended in Islam? Sahih Muslim, Prophet (pbuh) told him, “Whenever you go to bed, perform ablution like that for the prayer, and lie on your right side” [SM 2710]. I think everyone already noted about this, but how about this; “When the Prophet (pbuh) wants to go to sleep, he puts his right hand under his cheek” [SM 2713]. MasyaAllah, nice to know because it sunnah. This for reminded, The Prophet (pbuh) told a man who was lying on his stomach, “Allāh and his Prophet dislike this position” [Sunan Al-Tirmdhi 2768].
Dreams in Islam? The Quran uses several terms to refer to dreams, such as ru’ya (vision) (verses 17.60, 37.105, 48.2), hulm (dream) (verses 21.5, 52.3), manam (sleep) [verse 37.10], and bushra (tidings) [verse 10.6]. Sūra 12, Yussuf (Joseph), Sūra 37, As-Sāffāt (Ranks)-Prophet Abraham to sacrifice his son, Sūra 8, Al-Anfāl (Spoils)-Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) dream night before a particular battle (Badr). The night journey (Laylat al-Mi’raj) in Sūra 17 (Al-Isrā) says, “Glory be to Him (Allāh) Who took His slave (Muhammad) for a journey by night from Al-Msajid Al-Harām (in Mecca) to Al-Masjid Al-Aqsā (in Jerusalem) whose surroundings We have blessed, that We might show Him (Muhammad) some of Our signs” [verse 17.1].
I found several more about these subject; Ibn Sirin (653-728 C.E.) is the best-known dream interpreter in Islamic history-that dreams appearing in the last third of the night are more truthful. The Prophet (pbuh) said, “A good dream vision of a pious man is a forty-sixth part of prophecy” [SM 2263]. “A good vision (ru’ya) is from Allāh and a bad dream (hulm) is from Satan; so if one of you sees anything (in a dream which he dislikes), he should spit on his left side thrice and seek refuge with Allāh from its evil, and then it will never harm him” [SB 3118).
Ibn Arabi (1164-1240 C.E.) proposed a metaphysical system that merged Islamic theology and Greek philosophy. Ibn Khaldūn, a great Muslim scholar and thinker (1332-1402 C.E.), considered dream interpretation to be a science. He classified three types of dreams: (1) dreams Allāh (Allāh), clear and unmistakable in their meaning and content; (2) dreams Angels, received in the form of allegory and require interpretation; and (3) dreams from Satan, confused dreams that are futile. One should share their their dreams with those they trust, Prophet said, ''If one sees a good dream, let him expect good, and not tell it except to those he likes'' (Muslim).
Continuation to our topic, after all the sleeping process; it's time to wake up. The Prophet (pbuh) went to bed, he said, “O’ Allāh, it is with Thine Name that I live and it is with Thine Name that I die”, and when he awoke, he said, “Praise is due to Allāh, Who gave us life after our death (sleep) and unto Thee is resurrection” [SM 2711]. Be grateful after get a quality of sleep and opportunity of life for that day. In the same time, take a deep breath to refill back your body with oxygen, drink some water to stay hydrated and do little stretching. Now, get out of the bed and do Fajr prayer!
The Prophet said, “Yawning is from Satan. If you are about to yawn, you should try to stop it as much as possible. If you yawn, Satan will laugh” [SB 3115]. This is why you should take an afternoon nap time. The Prophet (pbuh) said, “Take a short nap, for Devils do not take naps” [Sahih Aljamie. Alalbani 1647]. “Sleeping early in the day betrays ignorance, in the middle of the day is right, and at the end of the day is stupid.” (Fath Al-Bari, p.73). Sahih Al-Bukhari (SB) says, “We used to offer the Jumua (Friday) prayer with the Prophet and then take the afternoon nap” [SB 5923]. Cognitive & memory consolidation. The short 10 min can improve alertness and performance for 2.5-4 hours.
MasyaAllah. May Allah bless us with above practices and get a quality of sleep in our life. Aamin.
