ProductiveMuslim Sleep Routine

alhamdullillah! thank u so much! lately i’ve been troubled by my sleep cycle! 1 think most of us know about that 3 part of night but ur explanation & suggestions…i never thought that way before…insya allah, i’ll do it tonight! thank u again!

Salam an interesting concept although i have recently been trying out a new method of waking up early and all though its very early days it seems to be working well

Being muslims we should add to this by obviously making ibadah before we sleep as you suggested and i can take a lot from you article since often when its after isha salaat im at a loss as to what to do i wish to do some sort of small routine but its usually not very organised so often i can end up wasting my time; but your suggestion of deviding the nights into 3 is intrigiging although

I would change things about a little by not undertaking any reading in bed or doing any notes or brain storming i use to do this before and this is often what lead me to sleeping late at night- the bed only serves one real purpose sleep so we should view it as a recharging station.

I would also due a little 15 minute exercise session.

@Muhammad Ali – JazakAllah Khair for your comments.

Reason I brainstorm before sleeping is to get whatever I have on my mind ‘off’ my mind and onto paper, and also to get my unconscious mind working on some of the brainstormed ideas whilst I’m sleeping..

regarding exercise before sleep, not sure, i’ve heard that you shouldn’t exercise before sleep as that’ll get you super energetic and unable to sleep, instead one should perform ‘meditative’ exercises, and isn’t that what Salah is?

@Muhammad Ali – Already did, check out this article: http://www.productivemuslim.com/whats-your-morning-routine/

finally! something i have been really looking for! Thank you so much!

jazakAllah khair

you mentioned praying tahjjud and witr before going to sleep, i thought tahjjud is to be reserved for last third of the night… what if you sleep at 10.30??

Jk

Br. Azizur Rahman,

Here's the link:
http://www.makedua.com/display_dua.php?sectionid=28

Jazak Allah Khair for pointing out!

-ProductiveMuslim Team

Assalamu'alaikum KM,

Thanks for your message.

Regarding your first question: loosely defined, tahajjud and 'qiyam-al-layl' can be considered one. Any voluntary prayer after Maghreb all the way till Fajr is counted as part of your 'night prayer' or 'tahajjud'. (Some scholars define tahajjud as the night prayer in the last third of the night).

Regarding your second question about sleep: Firstly, there's 2 things we need to differentiate here: 1. What your body wants, and 2. What your soul wants.

Your body wants to relax, have 8 hours sleep, eat well and enjoy itself. Your soul wants to pray, fast and stay closer to Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala). As you can imagine, it's very hard to satisfy both, so you have to think and decide who you should aim to please. (Answer: the soul! As that will enter you in Jannah!).

I'm not saying that you should spend all night in prayer! As your body has a right over you and you should take care of it.

Let's get practical: You should aim to have enough sleep at night so your body is not completely tired during the day. So it's VERY important that you sleep early (immediately after isha prayers). If you sleep late and expect to wake up early and fresh, it's going to be very difficult for you.

Finally, your body is very adaptable. I know many people who have a healthy life sleeping an average of 4 hours and 30 minutes sleep. However, if you're concerned about your health and sleep pattern, I would suggest you visit a doctor, as medical conditions are important to take note of.

Hope you find this useful,
ProductiveMuslim

Jazakallahulkhoir thankz you for the best article

i’ll bring it into my routine for my sleeping and Inshaallah my Lord bless me able to do it very well and everyday …

From South of Thailand Anak Melayu

mashALLAH such a wonderfull routine but its quite difficult to maintain in student life wid all university work and sometimes tests assignments and wat not….any suggestion regarding that plzz??

what a great follow up – subhanallah! I have been implementing this routine and I have to say it is so amazing, really the small changes make the big difference if you can keep up with them, i feel off track but got back on it again. You do get attached to it rather quickly, knowing that you are struggling to get up solely for the sake of Allah swt brings happiness to the soul, its like climbing a mountain, the struggle to the top is difficult but the view at the top is amazing! Duas to everyone trying to adopt this way of life, just think we are following the footseps of the prophet pbuh by doing so.

Jazaakallah for the sharing…do you mind if we share your post in our blog…of course by quoting you.

 Subhanallah this is amazing. I dont think ive ever been here before. jazakAllah khayr for this awesome site. May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala bless you (guys) with all good in both worlds ameen.

Jazaak Allaah khair….!

This is so beautiful, mashallah! I’m doing it tonight, inshallah. Thank you! JazakAllah khaire :)

Very simple, just think that you have to return back to your lord one day and you will have to leave every thing one day. Your love ones will one day take you and leave you in the grave one day and return bacj home. And then it will be you and your Allah with your Ammals protecting you if you have prayed all your prayers in time. May Allah guide us all and give us Hidayat to be 0n Right Path, AMEEN.

i think the second part of the sleep routine is very very important as well. for the sanity of the self. sometimes if one is always giving giving, you start to forget about the rights that the self has on itself, subhanAllah. and if we maintain the right intentions (I am giving myself the rights of myself), it could be a form of ibaadah (worship).

And Allah swt knows best.

Thank you for the article. I was enthused by the title, but then I had to re-read it several times to make sure i got the recommendations. So, 90 minutes, out of which only 30 for Tahajjud?! Surely not! Productive Muslims ahoy! Not 30 minutes Tahajjud – surely not!  I know you’re trying to make things easier for people, but death is just around the corner, and you’ll get plenty of sleep then! “Ya Yahya Khuth alKitab bi-Quwwah” (Take what’s given to you in the Book with strength and will) (Maryam:12).  How about a third of your WHOLE night for Tahajjud! and we havent’ even started with prophet Dawud’s Tahajjud routine yet! Personally, I cannot imagine so much sleep as you’ve suggested in your plan. A productive Muslim is a beacon of strength. Try this routine, no.. sorry… correction, do not try it… take it with STRENGTH & WILL TO SUCCEED, and inshaaAllah you will:  sleep after Athkar, etc, IMMEDIATELY after Isha (as the Prophet alyh alSalah walSalam did), then wake up either (a) at midnight, tahajjud for one third of the night hours, then sleep a little before Fajr, which is prophet Dawud’s tahajjud (Bukhari & Muslim), or (b) one third before night ends wake up for Tahajjud and continue up until Fajr.  (a) gives enough time for 11 Ruk’ah Tahajjud & two Juz’ quran plus huge amounts of energy for the day, and is most loved by Allah Sobhanoh (Bukhari & Muslim), but needs strict compliance – sleep immediately after Isha. (b) most people can accommodate it because they sleep more. Two things to maintain: (1) 33 SubhanAllah 33 alHamduliLLah 34 Allah Akbar in bed just before you sleep (Bukhari & Muslim) = as if there is another one of you doing the work with you (in the Hadeeth “better for your than a servant”) , also (2) Qayloolah (siesta) anything 5-30 minutes anytime before Thuhr (best) or just after it (Omar bin alKhattab Radi Allah Anh is said to have committed to this even if it was just lying down to rest – without the sleep)- these two Sunnahs could be must-do’s for your Tahajjud to last you years, not days! … and before anyone thinks it… Yes, i am a professional, architect, site administrator, etc. ie could possibly qualify as a semi-productive Muslim – Allah Subhanoh only knows! Allahum Baarik ! My advice: “the Strong Mu’min is better and more loved by Allah Subhanoh than the week Mu’min, and in both there is good” (Sahih Muslim).  Don’t be a weakling:  go for POWER TAHAJJUD – remember it’s a race to alFirdaws! May Allah be with you all and accept your Tahajjud – be it 30 minutes or a third of all minutes!

sounds good I will try it!

Salam alaikum wa rahmatAllah wa barakatuhu, jazakhAllah kheir for this very good article! But what do you do when Isha is past 10 pm and Fajr is at 3.20 am and you have to get up at 5/6 am to go to work? If you have any suggestion then pls share because as a revert I really don’t know how to handle that small amount of time at night in the most suffiant way! BarakAllah feek! Salam alaikum wa rahmatAllah wa barakatuhu