The rites of sleep in Islamic teaching

Sleep and its rites have a great significance in Quranic teachings. Human beings can achieve spiritual and physical health by good sleep which is a basic need. Having observed appropriate rites of sleep, the relationship between human's soul and the Divine world is established, thus human beings can understand the truth. Sleep is a blessing bestowed by God which may cause human being's temperament balance and provide their health. The Holy Quran says " … and we appointed your sleep for a rest" {surah: Tidings, verse: 9}. Thus the Holy Quran and Traditions have frequently emphasized the importance of sleep and its quality and rites. Accordingly in this study we tried to address the importance of sleep from the view point of the Holy Quran and Traditions. This research is a library study the main basis of which is the Holy Quran and Traditions of the Fourteen Immaculate Ones (P.B.U.T). This research is collected based on scholar's researches in this regard. It should be noted that the main references in this study are the Holy Quran, traditions of narrative books from both Shia and Sunni literature as well as conventional medicine. However, given the type of this study and limitations of the existing traditions in research references, we have faced some obstacles in gathering the effective references. Various sciences have failed to interpret sleep specifically so they couldnt present a reality-based image from sleep. It has been stated that the main reasons for this failure might be the material aspect of different sciences. This research tries to reveal the essence of sleep based on the Holy Quran and traditions, and then it addresses the rites of sleep in the Holy Quran. Having investigated the relationship between verses concerning sleep in the verse style specifically and in the Holy Quran as a whole, as well as narrative books including Shia and Sunni literature and conventional medicine, it is concluded that the Holy Quran and Traditions coming from the Fourteen Immaculate Ones (P.B.U.T) have regarded great significance for sleep and considered some rites for it so that human beings can benefit a lot from this God-given blessing.