When is sleeping obligatory, recommended, reprehensible, forbidden, or permissible, with examples for each case?
Sleep is permissible, and it is necessary like eating and drinking, and it is one of Allah's signs. However, it can be subject to the five Shariah rulings due to external reasons:
Obligatory (Wajib): Sleep that helps in performing a religious or worldly obligation. Recommended (Mustahabb): The sleep of one who feels drowsy during prayer or recitation, and the midday nap (qaylulah). Forbidden (Haram): Sleeping after the time for prayer has begun, knowing that it will consume the entire prayer time or make it too short. Disliked (Makrooh): Sleeping after Asr prayer, in front of worshippers, on a roof without a protective wall, lying prone on the face, with the smell of meat on the hand, in Arafat during the standing (wuquf), after Fajr prayer, naked under the sky, among awake people, alone in an empty house, and before Isha prayer after its time has begun if one doubts waking up.
If sleep overwhelms a person, then there is no blame on the one who is overcome by it.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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