What If Sleeping After Asr Time Has A Law? Here's The Explanation According To The Teachings Of Islam

(Photo Source: Pxhere. com).

Exist For One Another – Indonesia, Sleep is one of the basic needs for humans. With sufficient, regular and quality sleep, the body can rest and recover energy after doing all kinds of activities. In Islam, sleep is not only considered a biological necessity, but also part of the sunnatullah "encouragement", as a sign of Allah's dominion over His creatures. This is as it has been written in the word, Q.S Ar-Rum (30): 23.

"And among the signs of His power are your sleep by night and by day, and your efforts to seek a portion of His bounty. Indeed, in such is a sign for those who listen".

Basically, Islam does not prohibit a person from sleeping at all, but you should know beforehand if it turns out that there are certain times that are sunnah that are "recommended", and have a time that should be avoided to sleep, one of which is that in addition to sleeping Hailulah (after dawn), it is sleeping after the time of Asr. This certainly has a basis to explain why. Then how is the explanation?.

Sleeping After Asr According to the Perspective of Hadith

From many histories, sleeping after Asr time is often intervened with the risk of memory decline or can damage the mind. One of the hadiths that is often used as a basis is:

"Whoever sleeps after the time of Asr and loses his senses, then let him not blame except himself." (HR. Ad-Dailami in Musnad al-Firdaus, no. 1396).

According to some scholars, this hadith is categorized as a dhaif (weak) hadith, but if faced in the context of fadha'ilul a'mal (the virtue of charity), it can be used as a reference. Therefore, based on this hadith, it is nothing but an encouragement in terms of manners and ethics of life. This means that it is not a strict prohibition (haram), but a warning for Muslims to avoid sleeping at a time that can have a bad impact on the body or concentration. Islam places the warning of sleep at the time after asr, still looking at the impact that will occur. It does not necessarily detract, or even prohibits it without cause and reason.

Imam al-Ghazali, one of the great scholars, in his book Ihya' Ulumuddin explained that a good sleep is at night after the Isha prayer and at midday (qailulah) before Zuhur; around 11 noon until the time of the Zuhr prayer. Meanwhile, sleeping after Asr is also considered to cause fatigue in the brain and weaken the spirit of worship (Al-Ghazali, Ihya' Ulumuddin, Volume 3, p. 123).

Then, what is the Scholars' Point of View and Logical Explanation?

In addition to Imam Ghazali, several scholars of tafsir and hadith experts such as Ibn Qayyim al-Jauziyyah, also responded to the dangers of sleeping in the afternoon before sunset. As in the book Zad al-Ma'ad (Volume 4, p. 222), he mentions:

"Sleeping after Asr can cause laziness and weakness of the body. Some people even complain of difficulty sleeping at night after doing it."

From a modern medical point of view, the afternoon time towards night, is the phase the body is preparing its metabolism for a night's rest. Sleeping at this time can disrupt circadian rhythms, cause dizziness, difficulty sleeping at night, and even decrease concentration after waking up "memory declines and forgetfulness".

Thus, the prohibition of sleeping after Asr is not solely a religious dogma, but a form of wisdom and maintaining physical health and the balance of human activities to stay healthy and avoid bad things that may happen. Do you dare to prove it? Please.

Furthermore, what are the Ethics or Manners of Sleep According to Islam?

Islam teaches complete sleep manners, full of wisdom and appreciation, as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has said:

"If one of you wants to sleep, then he should perform ablution as ablution for prayer, then lie down on his right side". (HR. Bukhari and Muslim).

This hadith, although it is only understood textually, is already understandable. Of course, some people ask, why do you have to perform ablution and why do you have to lie on the right side? Of course, the answer is that this is not necessary, but an encouragement. Ablution, many other hadiths explain that while we sleep, the angels in heaven will guard and ask for forgiveness of "sins" from the person. While lying on the right, of course, from a medical point of view, because so that the heart is on top, and it will not make us congested.

Furthermore, apart from the right time, the intention in sleep is also important, namely to make sleep a form of worship, and to make it a form of gratitude and preparation for better deeds after waking up. Therefore, keeping a bedtime and avoiding sleeping after Asr is part of Islamic manners that reflects the discipline and wisdom of a Muslim.

On the other hand, there are findings of a study published by Zhu, Y., Zhang, J., Zhao, Y., & Wang, L. 2022, where the study discusses that  moderate naps can actually provide significant cognitive benefits, especially for individuals who have a less than optimal night's sleep duration. This means that this study supports the recommendation of naps because moderate naps have been shown to protect episodic memory function. That is a person's ability to remember personal experiences or past events, as well as slow down the decline in memory as a person who does it gets older.V