Revive a Sunnah

In the name of Allah

Revive a Sunnah: Going to Sleep in a State of Wudu'

Sa'd ibn 'Ubayd (radi Allahu anhu) said that al-Bara' ibn 'Azib (radi Allahu anhu) had related to him, "The Messenger of Allah, (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam), told me, 'Whenever you go to bed, do wudu' as you do wudu' for the prayer and then lie down on your right side. Then say, 

اللَّهُمَّ أَسْلَمْتُ وَجْهِي إِلَيْكَ، وَفَوَّضْتُ أَمْرِي إِلَيْكَ، وَأَلْجَأْتُ ظَهْرِي إِلَيْكَ، رَغْبَةً وَرَهْبَةً إِلَيْكَ، لاَ مَلْجَأَ وَلاَ مَنْجَا مِنْكَ إِلاَّ إِلَيْكَ، اللَّهُمَّ آمَنْتُ بِكِتَابِكَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلْتَ، وَبِنَبِيِّكَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلْتَ‏.‏

"O Allah, I have surrendered myself to You, entrusted my affair to You and relied on You in hope and fear of You. There is no refuge nor rescue from You except in You. O Allah, I have believed in Your Book which You sent down and in Your Prophet whom You sent."

If you die that night, then you will be in a state of pure human nature, i.e. Islam. Make that the last of the words that you utter.' I repeated this and when I reached, 'Your Messenger whom You sent' [instead of the Prophet], he said, 'No - "Your Prophet whom You sent."'

Recorded by Al Bukhari, 247 / 5952; Muslim, 2710

1. Umar (radi Allahu anhu) said that the Messenger of Allah (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said: "Whoever spends the night in a state of purity, spends the night with an angel close to him. He does not wake up without the angel saying to him, 'Oh Allah forgive Your slave so-and-so, he has spent the night in a state of purity.'"

[Ibn Hibban collected it in his Saheeh; Al-Mundhiri mentioned it in at-Targhib wa't-Tarhib]

2. Ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhu) and his father said that the Messenger of Allah (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said: "Purify these bodies of yours and Allah will purify you. There is no slave who spends the night in a state of purity but that an angel remains close to him. He does not pass an hour of the night without saying, 'Oh Allah forgive Your slave. He spent the night in a state of purity.'"

[At-Tabarani related in Al-Awsat and al-Mundhiri said it's isnad is good]

3. Ibn Hajar said; The apparent meaning is that it is mustahabb (highly recommended) for everyone who wants to go to sleep to renew his wudu', even if he already has wudu' - It may be interpreted as applying only to the one who has broken his wudu'.

4. Al-Nawawi said: if a person has wudoo’, that is sufficient for him, because the point is to go to sleep having wudu', lest he die in his sleep, and so that he dreams will be more true, and so that the shaytaan will be less likely to play with his dreams and terrify him.

And Allah knows best.