What are the prayers that should be read before going to bed and after waking up?

Dear Brother / Sister,

When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) lay in bed, he recited this prayer: “Bismika’llahumma ahya wa amut: O my Allah! I die with your name, and I am born with your name (sleep, wake up)”. After he woke up, he recited the following prayer: “Alhamdulillahilladhi ahyana ba‘da ma amatana wa ilayhi’n-nushur: All the Praises are for Allah Who has made us alive after He made us die (sleep) and unto Him is the Resurrection”. (Tirmidhi, Daawat 28; see Bukhari, Daawat 7; Muslim, Dhikr 59)

When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) lay in bed, he put his blessed hand under his cheek and said “O my Allah! I die with your name, and I am born with your name”. Our Prophet meant sleeping and waking up by the words die and be born because sleep is little death. It is possible that a person will not wake up after sleeping. Therefore, a believer utters his definite belief that it is Allah Who makes people die and Who resurrects people, renewing his belief in God Almighty and expressing his submission to Him. When he wakes up and sees that he regains his strength and the ability of action, he says, “All the Praises are for Allah Who has made us alive after He made us die”, praising and thanking Allah. By saying “Unto Him is the Resurrection”, he expresses his belief that not only after metaphorical death (sleep) but also after the real death, it is Allah Who will make us wake up and resurrect and gather us in His presence.  

A person who recites those prayers consciously expresses his belief in the absolute sovereignty of God Almighty over him, all human beings and creatures and carries out an important kind of worship called contemplation (tafakkur) by thinking about them.

The Messenger of Allah recited the following prayer in the morning: “Allahumma bika asbahna wa bika amsayna wa bika nahya wa bika namut wa ilayka’n-nushur: O my Allah, by You we entered upon morning, by You we entered upon evening, by You we live, by You we die, and to You is the resurrection.”

In the evening, he prayed as follows: “Allahumma bika amsayna wa bika nahya wa bika namut ve ilayka’l-masir: O' my Allah, by You we entered upon evening, by You we entered upon morning, by You we live, by You we die, and to You is the destiny.” (Abu Dawud, Adab 101; Tirmidhi, Daawat 13)

Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said to the Messenger of Allah: O Messenger of Allah! Will you teach me the holy words that I will read in the morning and in the evening? The Messenger of Allah said:

“Allahumma fatira’s-samawati wa’l-ardi alima’l-ghaybi wa’sh-shahadati, rabba kulli shay’in wa malîkahu. Ashhadu anla ilahe illa anta. Audhu bika min sharri nafsi wa sharri’sh-shaytani wa shirkihi: O Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Who knowest the unseen and the seen, Lord and Possessor of everything. I testify that there is no god but Thee; I seek refuge in Thee from the evil within myself, from the evil of the devil, and his (incitement to) attributing partners (to Allah)." He said: Say this in the morning and in the evening”. (Abu Dawud, Adab 101; Tirmidhi, Daawat 14, 95)

According to what is reported from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) the Messenger of Allah told him and Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her): “When you go to bed – or when you have a rest – say Allahu akbar (Allah is the greatest) thirty-three times, subhanallah (glorious is Allah) thirty-three times, alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah) thirty-four times”. (Bukhari, Fardu’l-khumus 6, Fadailu ashabi’n-nabî 9; Muslim, Dhikr 80). 
When the Messenger of Allah went to bed every night, he put his palms together, recited Qul huwallahu ahad, Qul audhu bi-rabbi’l-falaq and Qul audhu bi-rabbi’n-nas (the chapters of al-Ikhlas, alfFalaq, an-Nas) onto them, blew his breath onto them and rubbed his hands on his body beginning from his head, face, the front part of his body to wherever his hands reached; he did it three times. (Bukhari, Fadailu 'l-Qur'ân 14, Tib 39)

The Messenger of Allah said the following to me:

“When you want to go to bed, perform ablution as you do for prayer, then lie down on your right side and say: 'Allahumma aslamtu wajhi ilayka, wa fauwadtu Amri ilayka wa aljatu zahri ilayka, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilayka, lamalja'a wa la manja minka illa ilayka. Amantu bikitabi kalladhi anzalta wa bi nabiyyikal-ladhi arsalta' (O Allah! I surrender to You and entrust all my affairs to You and depend upon You for Your Blessings both with hope and fear of You. There is no fleeing from You, and there is no place of protection and safety except with You O Allah! I believe in Your Book (the Qur'an) which You have revealed and in Your Prophet (Muhammad) whom You have sent). If you should die then (after reciting this) you will die on the religion of Islam (i.e., as a Muslim); so let these words be the last you say (before going to bed)”  (Bukhari , Wudu 75, Daawat 6; Muslim, Dhikr 56)

The Messenger of Allah said:

'When a person enters his bed (to sleep), an angel and a devil come near him hurriedly. The angel says ‘start it with good’, the devil says 'start it with evil’. If the person starts to mention the name of Allah, the angel drives the devil away. When the person wakes up, the angel and the devil say the same things. If the person says: "Praise be to Allah, Who returned my soul to me after death and who did not make me die in my sleep. Praise be to Allah, Who prevents the seven floors of the sky from falling unto the earth.”, he will be regarded as a martyr if he falls off his bed and dies; if he gets up and performs a prayer, he will perform it virtuously." (Razin al Abdari, see Kütüb-i Sitte Muhtasarı Tercüme ve Şerhi, 6/519)

"When the Prophet (peace be upon him) woke up at night, he said: Praise and glory be to Thee, There is no god but thou. I ask Thy pardon for my sin and I ask Thee for Thy mercy. O Allah! Advance me in knowledge: do not cause my heart to deviate (from guidance) after thou hast guided me, and grant me mercy from thyself; verily thou art the grantor. (Abu Dawud, Adab 108, (5061).)

Hz Bara (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: "Whenever you go to your bed (for sleeping) say, 'O Allah! I have surrendered myself over to you and have turned my face towards You, and leave all my affairs to You and depend on You and put my trust in You expecting Your reward and fearing Your punishment. There is neither fleeing from You nor refuge but with You. I believe in the Book (Qur'an) which You have revealed and in Your Prophet (pbuh) whom You have sent.' If you then die on that night, then you will die as a Muslim, and if you wake alive in the morning then you will receive the reward". (Bukhari, Daawat 7,9; Tawhid 34; Muslim, Dhikr 56, (2710)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“Say the following when you wake up: “Praise be to Allah, Who has returned me my soul, who has made me healthy and who has let me mention his name.” (Nawawi, al-Adhkar, 21)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) also said:

“Whoever gets up at night and says: -- None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. He is the Only One and has no partners. For Him is the Kingdom and all the praises are due for Him. He is Omnipotent. All the praises are for Allah. All the glories are for Allah. And none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, And Allah is Great And there is neither Might nor Power Except with Allah, and then says: -- O Allah! Forgive me and invokes (Allah), he will be responded to and if he performs ablution (and prays), his prayer will be accepted. ” (Bukhari, Tahajjud, 21)

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