Healthy Sleep a la Rasulullah SAW
Healthy Sleep a la Rasulullah SAW
Author: Dr. Dwi Nur Ahsani, M.Sc.
Sleep is a state of unconsciousness experienced by every living creature. When sleeping, our brain is still working actively. Sleep nourishes body and soul. Poor quality sleep can cause body disturbances such as immune system disorders, decreased growth hormone, decreased memory ability and resulted in disturbances in the function of other organs. Once the importance of the role of sleep for health, Rasulullah SAW gave instructions regarding healthy and quality sleep.
It was narrated from al-barra ibn Azib that the Messenger of Allah said to him, "If you are going to sleep, perform ablution like ablution for prayer, then lie down on the right side of your body, then say: O Allah, I turn my face completely to You and I surrender my affairs to You with hope and fear of you. There is no place to turn and run from You, except to You. O Allah, I believe in Your book which You sent down and in Your prophet whom You sent (thus) if you die in your sleep, you really die in a fitrah (holy) state. Make that prayer the last greeting you say before going to bed.
Sleeping on your right side is the most comfortable and relaxing position for all organs, including the heart. In this position, all limbs (except the left hand) are lower than the heart. Therefore, blood flow from the left ventricle flows more smoothly to all parts of the body. The supine position or tilted to the left side is not optimal for the heart to work. In the supine position, the heart requires more energy to be able to flow to all parts of the body while in a tilted position to the left, it will be more difficult for the left side of the heart to pump blood into the aortic blood vessels (10° higher). It is not recommended to use a pillow that is too high for sleeping. This will make it difficult for blood to flow to the head. As with the sleep exemplified by the prophet where he slept with his head propped up with a thin pillow or with his hands tilted to the right.
After sleeping long enough, we are advised to establish the midnight prayer. Midnight prayer protects us from hypertension and heart disease. At midnight, physiologically there is sleep in the non-restful phase (non-rapid eye movements/NREM) which is characterized by increased heart rate and irregular heart rhythm. Therefore, waking a person from sleep and performing prayers at night will protect him from an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. In addition, during the non-deep sleep phase, the ability to move the fimbriae (protruding surfaces) of cells is reduced. This will make it easier for pathogens (viruses, bacteria, etc.) to enter the body. By enforcing night prayers, the function of the fimbria can return to its initial state and protect a person from the entry of foreign substances such as pathogens into the body thereby preventing disease. Prostration during prayer will also help blood flow to the brain with relative ease. The heart does not have to work hard to circulate blood because the position of the brain is lower than the heart.
At night cortisol levels will decrease. Cortisol is the body's hormone that plays an important role in the body's stress response. Sleeping in a pure state will provide peace of mind and comfort for all members of the body when cortisol levels decrease at night. In a calm and comfortable state, the parasympathetic system will work to protect against the effects of adding cortisol and catecholamines such as high blood pressure. Ablution can also protect against satanic disturbances when a person is asleep (one of which is in the form of nightmares). So perfectly does Islam regulate all Muslim activities in their daily life, including sleeping activities.
Excerpted from the smart book Miracle Health of Worship (2011) which is translated from Fushul fi Thibb al-Rasul by Jamal Muhammad ElZaky, published by Syuruq, Cairo: 2010.