Split Sleeping and Tahajjud Prayer

Written by Ayesha Dar

Sleep experts Dr. Melinda Jackson and Dr. Siobhan Banks say that split sleeping used to be the norm just recently, and going to bed for a continuous eight hours is a modern invention. People would go to sleep a couple of hours after dark, then wake up a few hours later.

Sleeping in two periods may increase alertness in the day and provide people with more flexibility to carry out work and spend time with their family, they said.

In the early 1990s, psychiatrist Thomas Wehr conducted a laboratory experiment in a group of people were left in darkness for 14 hours every day instead of the typical eight hours – for a month. It took some time for their sleep to regulate but by the fourth week a distinct two-phase sleep pattern emerged.

They slept first for four hours, then woke for one to three hours before falling into a second four-hour sleep. This finding suggests bi-phasic sleep is a natural process with a biological basis. So sleeping twice a day may be what your body really wants.

𝗧𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗷𝗷𝘂𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗺:

Tahajjud prayer is one of the non-obligatory prayers which one should pray in the later part of the night after getting some sleep. Because the meaning of t͟a͟h͟a͟j͟j͟u͟d͟ is to give up h͟u͟j͟u͟d͟ which means sleep, that is, to give up or leave off sleep.

“𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 [𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇] 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 [𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑] 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖; 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.” (𝑸𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒏, 17: 79)

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “The very best prayer after the compulsory prayers is the night time prayer.”(Muslim)

Actually, the time to perform Tahajjud prayer is since the specified Isha until dawn (all night) after getting up from sleep. But the best time to perform is 1/3 of the night after waking up from sleep.

𝑨𝒃𝒖 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝑨𝒃𝒖 𝒁𝒉𝒂𝒓: “𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆-𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕?” 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅: “𝑰 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, ‘𝑻𝒉𝒆 (𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈) 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒕.’” (𝑺𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒏 𝑰𝒃𝒏 𝑨𝒉𝒎𝒂𝒅)

Tahajjud prayer is one of the best among non-obligatory prayers, it is the cause of getting Allah`s great Blessings and Mercy. As stated in the hadith:

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓.” [𝑨𝒕-𝑻𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒊]

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗲𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘄𝘂𝗱 (𝗔𝗦):

It was narrated from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒂𝒘𝒖𝒅, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒂𝒘𝒖𝒅; 𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆-𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒐𝒏𝒆-𝒔𝒊𝒙𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.” (𝑺𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒏 𝑰𝒃𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒋𝒂𝒉)

This way is dearest to Allah because it is easier for the individual and helps him to avoid getting tired. That is kinder to oneself because sleeping after praying qiyaam allows the body to rest, takes away any harm that results from staying up at night and protects one from feeling weak, unlike staying up all night until dawn. It also serves another interest, which is that one will be able to pray Fajr and recite the adhkaar with energy and focus.

Allah Amighty, in all His profound wisdom, has ordained the human kind with the very things we require, both spiritually and physically. 𝗔𝗹𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗺!