Sleeping after Fajr and ‘Asr

 

As-salamu alaikun,

I would like to know if there is any verdict concerning sleeping after
fajr salat? (subuh)

Shukran. Jazakukmul-lahu khairan.

Praise be to Allaah.

As far as a person’s sleeping after praying Fajr is concerned, no
text (of Qur’aan or hadeeth) has been reported to indicate that this is prohibited,
so the general principle applies (i.e., everything is permitted except that which has been
expressly forbidden).

But the practice of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) and his Companions after praying Fajr was to remain sitting in the place where
they had prayed until the sun rose, as is reported in Saheeh Muslim
(1/463) in the hadeeth of Sammaak ibn Harb, who said: “I asked
Jaabir ibn Samurah, ‘Did you used to sit with the Messenger of Allaah?’ He said,
‘Yes, frequently. He would not get up from the place where he had prayed Subh until
the sun rose. When the sun rose, he would get up. They used to talk about things that had
happened during the Jaahiliyyah, and they would laugh and smile.’”

Also, the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
asked his Lord to bless his ummah in the mornings, as is reported in the hadeeth of Sakhr
al-Ghaamidi, who said: “The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said: “O Allaah, bless my ummah in the mornings.’ Whenever he sent
out troops or an army, he would send them at the beginning of the day.’” Sakhr
was a trader, and he used to send out his caravans at the beginning of the day, and he did
well as a result and made money.” (Reported by Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi and Ibn
Maajah, with an isnaad in which there is some jahaalah (i.e., one narrator is
unknown); corroborating evidence is to be found in a hadeeth narrated by ‘Ali, Ibn
‘Umar, Ibn ‘Abbaas, Ibn Mas’ood and others, may Allaah be pleased with them
all.)

For this reason some of the salaf disliked the idea of
sleeping after Fajr. Ibn Abi Shaybah reported in his Musannaf
(5/222, no. 25442) with a saheeh isnaad from ‘Urwah ibn
al-Zubayr that he said: “Al-Zubayr used to forbid his children to sleep in the
morning.” ‘Urwah said: “I do not hear of any man who sleeps in the morning,
but I lose interest in that person.”

In summary then, people should make the most of this time which can
bring many benefits in this world and in the Hereafter, but if a person sleeps at this
time to gain strength to do his work, there is nothing wrong with this, especially if it
is not easy for him to sleep at any other time of the day. Ibn Abi Shaybah reported in his
Musannaf (5/223, no. 25454) from the
hadeeth of Abu Yazeed al-Madeeni who said: “Umar came to Suhayb one morning and found
him sleeping, so he sat down until he woke up. Suhayb said: ‘The Ameer
al-Mu’mineen is sitting in his place and Suhayb is sleeping!’ ‘Umar said to
him: ‘I did not like to disturb your sleep that could be beneficial for
you.’”

As for sleeping after ‘Asr, this is also permitted; there is no
saheeh hadeeth from the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to
indicate that sleeping at this time is prohibited.

As for the words, “Whoever sleeps after ‘Asr and loses his
mind as a result has no-one to blame but himself,” which are attributed to the
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), this is a false hadeeth and
there is no proof that these words were uttered by the Prophet
(peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him). See: Silsilat al-Da’eefah, no. 39.

And Allaah knows best.