FAQ in the category of Time

1 What does expansion of time and transcending space mean?
2 When does the day start?

- In the Islamic tradition, Friday night is the night after Thursday evening and before Friday morning. A full day begins with sunset of the previous evening and lasts until the next evening. The same thing is valid for holy nights. The night before the holy day is considered to be the holy night.

Likewise, the night of Arafah is the night preceding the day of Arafah. The night before eid is the eid night. The other blessed nights are determined according to this criterion.

- The statement “Nor can the Night outstrip the Day” mentioned in verse 40 of the chapter of Yasin expresses a metaphorical meaning because the view that “night and day do not replace each other” is not appropriate.

The true knowledge is as follows: “The moon represents the night and the sun represents the day.”

Accordingly, the meaning of those two verses can be understood as follows:

“The Sun cannot catch the Moon: The night (representing the Moon) cannot catch the day (representing the Sun). (See Razi, the interpretation of the verse in question)

A clearer expression of it is as follows:

“The Sun and the Moon each move in the orbits assigned for them. Neither the Sun enters the orbit of the Moon lest it should always be daytime only, nor the Moon enters the orbit of the Sun, lest it should always be night only...” (see Tabari, Maraghi, the interpretation of the verse in question)

As it can be understood from the explanation above, there is no expression in the verse that determines the boundaries of night or day.

3 Why are we advised not to sleep at the time of karaha? What is the wisdom behind it?

We have not been able to find a narration like the one in the question. The following narration may mean the same thing.

“If a person sleeps after the afternoon prayer and becomes absent-minded, he should blame himself.” (Kanzul-Ummal, h. No. 41362)

It is pointed out in Majmauz-Zawaid has that this hadith is weak. (see Majmauz-Zawaid, 5/116)

There are three kinds of sleep other than the night sleep: faylula, ghaylula and qaylula. As it is known, there are three times of sleep - in terms of day - and three different decrees:

The first one is Ghaylula: The time period for this sleep begins with the beginning of the fajr (morning) prayer and continues until about 45 minutes after the sun rises, which is the end of the time of karaha.

This is the time period to prepare for the day’s work and to take advantage of its coolness. After the sun rises, there is a lethargy/relaxation and it is considered as “contrary to the sunnah” in the hadith to sleep at that time because it discourages the enthusiasm of working and causes lack of blessings.

The second one is Faylula: This time period starts after the asr (afternoon) prayer and lasts until the maghrib (evening) prayer. This sleep causes drowsiness, a state of half-asleep; therefore, it virtually shortens a person’s life span. The issue of losing one’s mind mentioned in the hadith narration above refers to the severity of this drowsiness. Since one sees the results of the day’s deeds usually at that time, the person who sleeps then may feel as if he has not lived that day and has not seen the spiritual results of that day. Therefore, this sleep is also considered makruh in the hadith.

The third one is Qaylula: This sleep is sunnah. It starts at the time of duha (about forty-five minutes after the sunrise) and continues until a little while after midday. Half an hour of qaylula is equivalent to two hours of night sleep. This sleep not only helps one to perform tahajjud prayer easily, but also contributes to the pace of work and increases the energy of work thanks to the vitality it gives to people. (See Nursi, Lem’alar, Yirmi Sekizinci Lem’a about the issue).