Islamic softwares: I used to think that Islam was ‘anti-sleep’...

May 21st, 2026 | Read online

Assalamu'alaikum,

Growing up, I had this misunderstanding that Islam was 'anti-sleep.'

I would read verses like:

تَتَجَافَىٰ جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَـٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ

"They abandon their beds, invoking their Lord with hope and fear, and donate from what We have provided for them" (Qur'an 32:16)

And I would think: wow, I need to give up sleep if I want to be a better Muslim.

I would read the seerah and come across the Prophet's ﷺ night prayer - sometimes praying half the night, sometimes more, sometimes less. And honestly, I struggled, caught between my real-life challenges and the popular notion that you need a full 8 hours every night for good health.

But then I started thinking of sleep differently. Specifically, I started to appreciate that:

Sleep is a mercy and gift from Allah, just like food and water. It is meant to nourish our bodies so we can worship Him better.
Sleep is a means to becoming a better worshipper of Allah if managed well, and not an end in itself.
Our modern lifestyle pulls us away from the natural rhythm that made it possible for the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions to stand in prayer through the night.

Armed with these three ideas, I started to study this gift of sleep more deeply, and how I could honour it, so that getting up for Fajr and Tahajjud becomes easier, and I could become one of those who "...abandon their beds, invoking their Lord with hope and fear..."

That is the heart of what we will do together this Saturday in Barakah in Sleep. Not just the science - though there is plenty of it - but a way of treating sleep as the gift it actually is, to help us become better servants of Allah.