Bedtime Sunnahs (the Prophet’s traditions)
1- (o allah, in your name i die and live) narrated by al-bukhari.
2- One should put his hands together, then, puff into them and recite: (say, “he is allah, the only one”), (say, “i take refuge with the lord of the daybreak”) and (say, “i take refuge with the lord of mankind”), then, saying that, wipes as much as he can of his body, starting with his head, his face and the front of his body. he should do this three times). narrated by al-bukhari.
3- Reciting the verse of the throne (ayat-al-kursii): (allah. there is no god except him, the ever-living, the superb upright sustainer), narrated by al-bukhari.
* the fruit (reward) of reciting this ayah (a verse of the qur’an): who recites it, the protection from allah remains over him, so that no devil can approach him. as was proved to be authentic in the previous hadith (the prophet’s saying).
4- (o allah, in your name i sleep and by you i wake up. if you take my soul, then have mercy on it and if you send it back, then preserve it the way you preserve your righteous slaves). narrated by al-bukhari and muslim
5- (o allah, surely you have created my soul and you take it up. to you is its life and its death. if you give it life, then preserve it and if you give it death, then forgive it. o allah, indeed, i ask you for wellness). narrated by muslim.
6- (o allah, protect me against your torment on the day that you resurrect your slaves). three times. narrated by abu-dawoud and at-termithi. one should say this when he puts his right hand under his cheek (lying on the right side in bed)
7- (subhan allah (glorified be allah) thirty three times, al-hamdulillah (all praise is to allah) thirty three times, and allahu akbar (allah is the greater) thirty four times. narrated by al-bukhari and muslim.
8- (all praise is to allah, who has fed us, given us water, sufficed us and given us refuge, how many are those, who do not have anyone to suffice them and give them refuge, are). narrated by muslim.
9- (o allah, knower of the unseen and the witnessed, originator of the heavens and the earth, the lord of everything and its sovereign, i bear witness that there is no god but you. i take refuge with you from the evil of myself, from the evil of satan and his trap and from causing myself any harm, or driving it to any muslim). narrated by abu-dawoud and at-termithi.
10-(o allah, i have submitted myself to you, confided my command to you, directed my face to you and resorted to you out of my desire and awe of you. there is no refuge or escape from you, except to you. i have believed in your book, which you have sent (down) and your prophet, who you have sent). narrated by al-bukhari and muslim.
11-(o allah, lord of the seven heavens and lord of the magnificent throne, our lord and the lord of everything, splitter of grains and nuclei, sender of the bible, the gospel and al-furqan (the criterion), i take refuge with you from everything you take by the forelock. o allah, you are the first, as there is nothing before you, you are the last, as there is nothing after you, the manifest, as there is nothing over you and the immanent, as there is nothing below you, pay the debt for us and enrich us after poverty). narrated by muslim.
12- reciting the last two verses of surat al-baqarah, starting with his words (exalted be he): (the messenger has believed in what has been sent down to him from his lord, and the believers {believe}), for the hadith: (this who recites them at night, they suffice him), narrated by al-bukhari and muslim.
scholars disagreed about the meaning of (they suffice him): it has been said: they are sufficient for him, as he does not need to perform the qiyam* of the night. also, it has been said that they protect him against every evil and adversity. i have said: it may mean both things… the end of an-nawawi’s words (al-adhkar).
13-one should be pure, for the hadith (if you go to bed, have an ablution).
14-sleeping on the right side… (…then lie on your right side …). narrated by al-bukhari and muslim.
15- one should put the right hand under his cheek (when he lay down, he used to put his right hand under his cheek). narrated by abu-dawoud.
16-dusting the bed off (when anyone of you goes to his bed, he should dust it off… as he does not know what he has left behind him…). narrated by al-bukhari and muslim.
17-reciting surat (say, “o you disbelievers”), as one of its fruits: (it is a protection from polytheism), narrated by abu-dawoud, at-temidhi and ahmad, and was proved to be authentic by ibn-hibban, al-hakim and adh-dhahabi agreed with him. also, it was proved to be good by al-hafedh and authentic by al-albani.
· an-nawawi said: one should give priority to do everything stated in this chapter, but, if he could not, he might be confined to do what he can (do) of its most important (items).
· by observation, we find that most people sleep twice in their day and night, as then, they would have applied these sunnahs , or some of them, twice, because these sunnahs are not restricted to night’s sleep, rather they include even sleeping during the day as the ahadith are general.
the fruit of applying these sunnahs at bedtime:
1- 100 sadaqa (charitable deeds) is written for the muslim when he keeps these glorifications constantly before sleeping, for the hadith: (every glorification is sadaqa, every time one says: allah is the greater is sadaqa, every praise (to allah) is sadaqa and every time one says: there is no god but allah is sadaqa...). narrated by muslim.
*an-nawawi said: has the same reward.
2- if the muslim preserves these glorifications before sleeping, 100 trees will be planted for him in paradise, for the previous hadith narrated by ibn-majah, about the fruits of post-prayer adhkar.
3- allah protects the slave, keeps the devil away from him in that night and he remains safe from evils and pests.
4- the slave ends his day with remembering allah, obeying him, putting trust on him, asking him for help and declaring his oneness.
* qiyam = supererogatory prayers performed at night, after isha’ (evening) prayer.
