Prayers for Inner Peace Before Sleep
A Muslim can seek solace from Allah (SWT) before sleep through sincere supplication. Here are some well-known prayers:
- (In Your name, O my Lord, I lay down my side, and by You, I lift it. If You hold my soul, have mercy on it, and if You release it, then protect it as You protect Your righteous servants.)
- (O Allah, spare me Your punishment on the day You raise Your servants.)
- (In Your name, O Allah, I die and I live.)
- (O Allah, You created my soul, and You take it back. Its life and death are Yours. If You revive it, protect it; if You take it, forgive it. O Allah, I ask You for well-being.)
- (O Allah, I have submitted my face to You, entrusted my affairs to You, and taken refuge in You with hope and fear. There is no refuge and no escape from You except with You. O Allah, I believe in Your Book, which You have revealed, and in Your Prophet, whom You have sent. Should I die this night, I would die on my natural disposition.)
- (O Allah, Lord of the heavens and the earth, and Lord of the magnificent Throne, our Lord and the Lord of all things, Splitter of the grain and the seed, Revealer of the Torah, the Gospel, and the Criterion, I seek refuge in You from the evil of everything You have seized by its forelock. O Allah, You are the First; there is nothing before You. You are the Last; there is nothing after You. You are the Manifest; there is nothing above You. You are the Hidden; there is nothing below You. Cancel our debts and enrich us from poverty.)
- (O Allah, You are my Lord; there is no god but You. You created me and I am Your servant, and I am holding to Your covenant and promise as much as I can. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done, and I confess Your blessings upon me, and I confess my sins. Forgive me, for none forgives sins but You. It was said: whoever says this during the day with certainty, and dies before the evening, will be among the people of paradise; and whoever says it at night while certain and dies before the morning, will also be among the people of paradise.)
Evening Remembrances
A Muslim fortifies himself by remembering Allah (SWT), which carries numerous benefits. Among the evening remembrances found in the Quran and Sunnah are the following:
- Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “When the Prophet (peace be upon him) would enter the evening, he would say: ‘We have entered the evening, and sovereignty belongs to Allah, and praise be to Allah; there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner to Him. He said: I report this in the context in which He mentioned that sovereignty and praise are for Him, and He is capable of everything. O Lord, I ask You for the best of what this night holds and the best of what comes after it, and I seek refuge in You from the evil of this night and the evil of what comes after it. O Lord, I seek refuge in You from laziness and the evil of old age, and I seek refuge in You from a punishment in Hell and a punishment in the grave.’ And when morning came, he would say the same: ‘We have entered the morning, and sovereignty belongs to Allah.’ ”
- (The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) taught his companions to say: When one of you wakes up, let him say: ‘O Allah, by You we have woken up, and by You we have entered the evening, and by You we live and by You we die, and to You is the return.’ And when evening comes, let him say: ‘O Allah, by You we have entered the evening, and by You we woke up, and by You we live, and by You we die, and to You is the resurrection.’)
- Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “O Messenger of Allah, command me with words to say when I wake up and when I enter the evening.” He said: “Say: O Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, Lord of all things and their Sovereign, I bear witness that there is no god but You. I seek refuge in You from the evil of myself, the evil of the Devil, and his partnership. Say it when you wake and before entering your sleep.”)
- According to Abdullah Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would not neglect these supplications when he would enter the evening and in the morning: O Allah, I ask You for well-being in this life and the Hereafter; O Allah, I ask You for pardon and well-being in my religion, my worldly affairs, my family, and my wealth. O Allah, conceal my flaws – and Uthman mentioned: ‘my flaws’ – and protect me from fright. O Allah, guard me from the front, the back, my right, my left, and above me, and I seek refuge in Your might from being surprised from beneath me.)
- The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever says upon waking: There is no god but Allah alone; He has no partner; to Him belongs sovereignty, to Him belongs praise, and He is capable of everything; it is equivalent to freeing a slave from the children of Ismail. Ten good deeds will be recorded for him, ten bad deeds will be erased from him, ten ranks will be elevated for him, and he will be in the protection from the devil until the evening. If he says it when evening comes, he will have the same reward until morning.”
- (There is no servant who recites at dawn and dusk: In the name of Allah, with whose name nothing can harm in the heavens and on the earth, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, three times, but will not be harmed by anything.)
- The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “If you say when the evening comes: I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created, nothing will harm you.”)
- (Whoever recites in the morning and evening: Glory be to Allah and praise be to Him one hundred times will not come on the Day of Judgment with anything better than what he has brought forth, unless someone has said the same or more.)
- The Prophet (peace be upon him) stated: “The Master of seeking forgiveness is to say: O Allah, You are my Lord; there is no god but You. You created me and I am Your servant, and I adhere to Your covenant and promise as much as I can. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done, and I acknowledge Your blessings upon me, and I acknowledge my sins. Forgive me, for none forgives sins except You. It was said: whoever believes this and dies on that day before the evening, he will be among the people of paradise; and whoever says it at night while convinced dies before morning, he will also be among the people of paradise.)
- It has been narrated from Abdullah Ibn Khabeeb that he said: “We went out on a night of rain and darkness seeking the Prophet (peace be upon him) so that he could pray for us. We caught up with him, and he asked: Did you pray? I said nothing. He said: Say! I still said nothing. Then, he said: Say! I asked: O Messenger of Allah, what shall I say? He replied: Say: ‘Say, He is Allah, One,’ and the two surahs of seeking refuge when you enter the evening and morning, three times. They will suffice you against everything.)
Manners of Supplication
There are specific etiquettes related to making Dua, the most important being sincerity to Allah (SWT) and having certainty in His response. One should attain a state of focus and persistence while invoking Allah, asking with His beautiful names, as Allah says: ‘And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them.’ Moreover, a Muslim should strive to make supplications during preferred times, such as during the last third of the night, between the Adhan and Iqamah, when in prostration, and on the Day of Arafah.