How was the sleeping pattern of the Prophet (pbuh)?

How was the sleeping pattern of the Prophet (pbuh)?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The Prophet (pbuh) had a rest in the afternoon.

Hz. Prophet (pbuh) slept a bit (qaylula) after performing the noon prayer. As a matter of fact, it is narrated that the Prophet mentioned qaylula as "a nice custom" (Daylami,  IV, 266) and that he sometimes had a short sleep (qaylula) in the houses of his relatives like Umm Haram, his maternal aunt and Umm Sulaym, the mother of Anas. (Ibn Hajar, Fathul-Bari, XI, 72)

The Messenger of Allah also advised those who allocated some part of the night for worshipping to make qaylula during the day in order to be strong at night. (Ibn Majah, Siyam, 22)

The Prophet would sleep after the night prayr (isha) and wake up at night to perform witr prayer.

As a matter of fact, he stated the following in a hadith narrated from Jabir:

“He who amongst you is afraid that he may not be able to get up at the end of the night should observe witr in the first part and then sleep, and he who is confident of getting up and praying at night (i. e. tahajjud prayer) should observe it at the end of it; for, the recitation at the end of the night is witnessed by angels, and that is better.”  (Muslim, Musafirin 162  163)

Hz. Prophet would go home after performing the night prayer in the mosque; his wives would also leave and rest. He did not like spending time talking after the night prayer; he would perform the night prayer on time and go to his room; he would read the Quran before sleeping. (He would usually read one of these chapters: al-Isra, az-Zumar, al-Hadid, al-Hashr, at-Taghabun, al-Jumu'a.)

According to Tirmidhi’s Shamail, the Prophet (pbuh) would say, "O Allah! I die with your name and live with your name" before going to bed and "Praise be to Allah, who made us live after killing us" when he woke up.

Hz. Prophet would wake up in the middle of the night or after two thirds of the night passed, rub his teeth with the miswak, which he kept near his cushion, make wudu and worship Allah.

His Worshipping at Night

Hz. Aisha narrates:

"The Messenger of Allah would stand until his feet swelled and worship at night. I said to him,

‘Why do you worship so much though your previous and future sins were forgiven?’ He said,

‘Shall I not be a slave who thanks?’" (Bukhari, Tahajjud, 6; Tirmidhi, Salah, 187)

Hz. Prophet (pbuh) never abandoned tahajjud prayer since it was wajib for him. When he worshipped and made dhikr, he advised his ummah to do so too.

As a matter of fact, the following is stated in a hadith:

"Satan puts three knots at the back of the head of any of you if he is asleep. On every knot he reads and exhales the following words, 'The night is long; so, stay asleep.' When he wakes up and remembers Allah, one knot is undone; and when one performs ablution, the second knot is undone, and when one prays the third knot is undone and one gets up energetic with a good heart in the morning; otherwise one gets up lazy and with a mischievous heart." (Bukhari, Tahajjud, 12)

The following is stated in another hadith:

"There is a time at night; if a Muslim wants a good thing from Allah related to worldly or otherworldly affairs at that time, he is definitely given what he wants. This takes place every night." (see Riyadus-Salihin, 1175)

After performing tahajjud prayer, the Prophet (pbuh) would get ready for the morning prayer, perform the Sunnah of the morning prayer in his room and go to the mosque in order to perform the morning prayer in congregation.

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