Supplications Before Sleep
It is recommended for Muslims to turn to Allah with supplications before going to sleep. Below are some of these supplications:
- (In Your Name, O Lord, I lay down my side, and by You, I raise it. If You hold my soul, then have mercy on it; and if You release it, protect it as You protect Your righteous servants.)
- (O Allah, save me from Your punishment on the Day You resurrect Your servants.)
- (In Your Name, O Allah, I die and live.)
- (O Allah, You created my soul and You take it away. To You belongs its death and life. If You give it life, protect it; and if You cause it to die, forgive it. O Allah, I ask You for well-being.)
- (O Allah, I submit my face to You, I entrust my affairs to You, and I seek refuge in You, out of desire and fear of You. There is no refuge nor escape from You except in You. O Allah, I believe in Your Book which You have revealed and in Your Prophet whom You have sent. If I die tonight, I die on the natural disposition.)
- (O Allah, You are my Lord; there is no deity but You. You have created me and I am Your servant, and I am adhering to Your covenant and promise as best as I can. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge Your blessings upon me and confess my sins, so forgive me, for none forgives sins except You. It has been said: Whoever recites this during the day with certainty and dies before the evening will be among the people of Paradise, and whoever recites it at night with certainty and dies before the morning will be among the people of Paradise.)
- (O Allah, Lord of the heavens and the earth, and Lord of the mighty Throne, our Lord and the Lord of all things, Splitter of the seed and the date stone, and the Revealer of the Torah, the Gospel, and the Criterion, I seek refuge in You from the evil of everything You hold by its forelock. O Allah, You are the First; there is nothing before You, and You are the Last; there is nothing after You. You are the Manifest; there is nothing above You, and You are the Hidden; there is nothing below You. Clear our debts and relieve us from poverty.)
Evening Remembrances
The evening supplications hold numerous virtues as they shield the believer from evils throughout the day. Here are some selected evening remembrances:
- (There is no servant who recites every morning and evening, “In the Name of Allah, with His name nothing harmful can be in the earth or in the heavens, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing,” three times, except that nothing will harm him.)
- The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “If you say at sunset: I seek refuge in the complete words of Allah from the evil of what He has created, you will not be harmed.”
- (Whoever says in the morning and evening: ‘Glory be to Allah and praise be to Him’ one hundred times will find no one on the Day of Judgment with better than what he has brought, except someone who has said the same or more.)
- It was narrated by Abdullah ibn Khabeeb who said: “We went out on a rainy night with intense darkness seeking the Prophet (peace be upon him) to pray for us. When we caught up with him, he asked: Did you pray? I did not answer, so he said: Say. I remained silent, and again he insisted: Say. Finally, I asked: O Messenger of Allah, what should I say? He replied: Say ‘Allah is One’ and the two protectors (Surat Al-Falaq and Surat An-Nas) when you finish the evening and morning prayers, three times, they will suffice you against everything.)
- (The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to teach his companions to say: When one of you wakes up, let him say: O Allah, by You we rise, and by You we lay down, and by You we live and die, and to You is the resurrection. And when it is evening, let him say: O Allah, by You we have gone to the evening and by You we rise, and by You we live and die, and to You is the resurrection.)
- Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah, advise me with words to say when I wake up and when I go to sleep. He said: Say: O Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, Lord of everything and its Sovereign, I bear witness that there is no deity but You. I seek refuge with You from the evil of my soul and from the devil and his plots; say it when you wake up and when you go to bed.)
- Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not neglect these supplications in the evening and morning: O Allah, I seek well-being in this world and the Hereafter. O Allah, I ask You for forgiveness and well-being in my religion, my worldly affairs, my family, and my wealth. O Allah, cover my shame – and Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: my shames – and keep me safe from my fears. O Allah, guard me from in front of me, from behind me, on my right, and on my left, and from above me. I seek refuge in Your greatness from being harmed from below me.)
- The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Whoever says upon waking: “There is no deity but Allah, alone with no partner for Him. To Him belongs sovereignty, and all praise is due to Him, and He is capable of all things,” will have the equivalent of freeing a neck from the descendants of Ismail, and ten good deeds will be written for him, ten bad deeds will be erased from him, and ten levels will be raised for him, and he will be in protection from the devil until the evening. If he says it in the evening, he will receive the same until the morning.)
Etiquettes of Supplication
There are various etiquettes that one should adhere to when turning to Allah in supplication; these include:
- Sincerity to Allah in supplication and a heartfelt focus.
- Avoiding unlawful earnings and striving for lawful provision.
- Starting by praising Allah, glorifying Him, and sending blessings upon the Messenger (peace be upon him).
- Drawing closer to Allah by invoking His names and attributes.
- Facing the Qibla and performing ablution before making supplication.
- Taking advantage of the times of acceptance and seeking them out, such as the last third of the night.