ONE HADITH A DAY
Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim · Authentic hadith
عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه مرفوعاً: «إذا أوى أحدكم إلى فراشه فَليَنْفُضْ فِرَاشَهُ بِدَاخِلَةِ إزَارِهِ فإنَّهُ لا يدري ما خلفه عليه، ثم يقول: باسمك ربي وضعت جنبي، وبك أرفعه، إن أمسكت نفسي فارحمها، وإن أرسلتها، فاحفظها بما تحفظ به عبادك الصالحين».
“Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When any one of you goes to his bed, let him dust off his bed with the end of his lower garment, for indeed he does not know what came unto it after he had left it. Then one should say: 'In Your Name, O my Lord, I place my side (on the bed), and by You I will lift it. If You take my soul, then have mercy on it, and if You send it, then protect it as You protect Your righteous slaves.'"”
This Hadīth talks about the Dhikrs at the time of sleep. It is the moment when one submits his soul to his Lord, a moment in which he possesses neither might nor power. So he leaves it in the hand of its Creator to protect it and return it, as he entrusts his affairs completely to Allah, the Exalted. Scholars stated that the wisdom behind the Dhikr and supplication at the time of sleeping and waking up is to make both the conclusion and commencement of one's deeds an act of obedience. In this blessed Hadīth, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) explains to us the actions and statements which the slave should perform as an act of the Sunnah at the time of sleeping. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) instructed us on the action to be done in that situation when he said: “When any one of you goes to his bed, let him dust off,” and this is because the Arabs used to leave their beds as they were, and it was possible that some harmful insects would enter the bed after one had left it, or it became polluted with dust or the like. So, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that the bed should be dusted off before sleeping. Then he referred to the dusting and cleaning tool saying: “Then let him dust off his bed with the end of his lower garment”, i.e. the end of the under clothes, because it is easier in dusting, and to prevent the external part of the clothes from getting dirty, in addition to the fact that this is a better way for concealing one's private parts. Then the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessing…