What is the etiquette for sleeping in islam? What is the etiquette for resting in islam?
Allah Almighty has made the day bright for working and earning a living; and He has made the night dark for resting and sleeping. All creatures have been created with the need for resting and sleeping. While performing acts of worship or working, we must be relaxed, peaceful, and strong. Moreover, we need proper rest and sleep in order to be healthy.
What should we pay attention to when sleeping and waking?
We should go to bed early, in a state of ablution, after performing salat al-’isha’.
We should brush our teeth before sleeping.
We should sleep in clean sleeping clothes, pajamas.
We should recite Ayat al-Kursi, chapter al-Ikhlas, chapter al-Falaq and chapter an-Nas in bed before sleeping.
If possible, we should sleep by turning our face to the direction of qiblah and by placing our right hand under our chins.
In order not to place pressure on our heart, which is on the left of the body, and on our stomach, we should sleep on our right sides.
Because our Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- forbade it, we never sleep lying face down, on our backs with our legs crossed.
We should sleep neither too little nor too much. (6-8 hours)
We should not sleep while the sun is rising or setting. (within 45 minutes after sunrise and within 45 minutes before sunset)
We should sleep with the intention to wake up for dawn prayer or mid-night prayer so that our sleep will be spiritually rewarded as an act of worship.
Before sleeping, we should read the following supplications, which our Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- taught us.
“O Allah! I die (sleep) and come to life (wake) in Your name.”
After waking, we praise our Lord and rise from our right side. Then we read this supplication.
“Praise be to Allah who brings us to life after we die. The Resurrection will be to Him.” (al-Bukhari, Da’awat, 8)
Our beloved Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- said to one of his companions:
– O so-and-so, 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 (Muhammad) 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” (al-Bukhari, Da’awat, 7)
ETIQUETTE FOR EATING AND DRINKING
Allah Almighty says: “…enjoy (all) things good and pure, and work righteousness: for I am well-acquainted with (all) that you do.” (al-Mu’minun, 23: 51)
Our Lord sent us to this world in order for us to become His excellent servants and go to Paradise.
In order to carry out the tasks prescribed upon us such as the acts of worship in a good manner, He has made halal (lawful) for us to meet our need such as sleeping, eating, and taking shelter. He bestowed upon us with countless blessings such as vegetables, fruits, meat, and milk. In turn, if we eat or drink of these bounties with the intention of becoming better servants of our Lord, the Creator of all the worlds, our eating and drinking will be a part of our worship. For instance, if a student eats with the intention to be strong enough to gain beneficial knowledge, Allah Almighty will immediately start rewarding his endeavor of learning. If a young eats dinner with the intention to wake up and perform dawn prayer and all his daily acts of worship for his Lord, then he will also start to be rewarded for all those acts of worship.
What should we pay attention to before starting to eat?
We must not eat until we feel hungry.
We should help prepare the table.
We should wait for our elders and visitors, if there is any, to sit first.
We should wash our hands before coming to the table.
We should use a tablecloth so no food pieces or crumbs fall on us.
If we eat sitting on the ground, we should sit on our left foot, with our right knee raised up. We should not lean on anything.
When eating at the table, we should neither lean back too far, nor lean over the table.
We should eat of our food with intention of using the energy it gives us to be good servants of our Lord and worship him well.
When we begin eating, we say “Bismillahi’r-Rahmani’r-Rahim” (“In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful”). If we forget to say the basmala at the beginning of the meal, we should say “Bismillahi awwalahu wa akhirahu” (In the name of Allah, in its beginning and its end”) as soon as we remember.
What should we pay attention while eating?
We should start eating our meal by eating some salt at the beginning and finish the meal again by eating some salt. This is a nice tradition of our Prophet -upon him blessings and peace-.
We should eat from what is in front of us with our right hand.
We should chew well every bite before swallowing it, and we should not take another bite before swallowing the first one.
We should close our mouths while eating so that we will not disgust anyone.
We should not find fault with any dish. Because the Messenger of Allah would not dislike any food, nor would he find fault with it. If he liked it, he would eat it, if he did not, he would leave it.
We should eat the food from what is in front of us, but while eating fruits, we can eat from wherever we like.
We should never do the following while eating and drinking!
We should not eat or drink anything prohibited by Islam.
We should not eat or drink while standing.
We should not drink water in one gulp. We drink it in three breaths and by taking a short rest between breaths. We should not breathe into the container.
When sneezing, coughing, or belching, we should not put food into our mouths; and we should close our mouths. Otherwise we will face a dangerous or disgusting situation.
We should not leave the top of water and food containers open. Because insects, flies and vermin can fall into it.
We should not eat or drink from plates or cups with broken rim. Because our lips and tongue can be cut.
While eating, we should not talk nonsense, we should not laugh and make noise.
We talk when we swallow our bite, not when we have food in our mouth.
We should not wipe our hands and mouths with a piece of bread and then swallow that piece of bread.
We should not throw the fallen bite in the trash just because it has become dirty. We wipe it, clean it and then eat it.
We should not blow on food that is hot; and we should not drink very cold water all at once.
We should not leave our food or plate unfinished. We should not spill crumbs.
What to do after eating!
When we finish eating, we should say, “al-hamdu li’llah” and “O Allah, thank You for this food.” In this way we express our thanks to Allah and say the invocation for food.
After eating, we wash our hands.
When we eat together, we only get up together after everyone has eaten.
We should help to clear the table.
We should thank those who made the food and set the table.
Once when eating with his Companions, our Beloved Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- said the following:
– “A human being fills no worse vessel than his stomach. It is sufficient for a human being to eat a few mouthfuls to keep his spine straight. But if he must (fill it), then one third of food, one third for drink and one third for air.” (al-Tirmidhi, Zuhd 47; Ibn Majah, At’ima 50)
Once a Companion forgot to mention Allah’s name (basmalah) while eating until there remained the last morsel. When he raised it to his mouth, he said: In the name of Allah at the beginning and at the end of it (Bismillahi awwalahu ve akhirahu). The Prophet smiled -upon him peace and blessings- and said:
“The devil kept eating along with him, but when he mentioned Allah’s name, he vomited what was in his belly.” (Abu Dawud, At’ima 16)
Later, to promote blessings while eating, he said,
– “The food of one is sufficient for two, and the food of two is sufficient for four, and the food of four is sufficient for eight.” (Muslim, Ashriba 179; Tirmidhi, At’ima 21)
Source; Islamic Etiquette, Faruk KANGER – Lokman HELVACI, Erkam Publications
Good Manners Towards Allah Almighty
Good Manners Towards Our Prophet
