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By Amal Al-Sibai
Staying up late in Saudi culture is so common that it has become the norm. The reversal of sleeping patterns disrupts the body’s natural biological clock and it goes against the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
It is alarming to find out just how prevalent lack of sleep really is in our society, and the detrimental effects it has on the mind and body.
A study conducted by Boston College in 2013 found that 73% of 9 and 10 year old school children in Saudi Arabia were sleep deprived, and this adversely affected their math and science test scores.
In a study published in Sleep Medicine by researcher Roah A. Merdad and colleagues, high school students in Jeddah were surveyed on their sleep patterns. Excessive daytime sleepiness was reported by 37% of the students. And 1 in 10 students stayed awake all night and slept after returning from school, a complete reversal of the normal sleep cycle! This pattern was more common among boys and students with lower grades in school.
Another study of school children in Riyadh showed that 13.5% of boys and 7% of girls were falling asleep in classes.
Sleep deprivation has a negative impact on students’ learning, memory retention, concentration, and overall academic performance.
Research conducted by Ahmad Salem BaHammam, from King Saud University, confirmed that irregular bed times and sleep problems in general was significantly associated with lower school performance.
Watching television, playing computer games, and sitting in front of the small screen of mobile phones while in bed plays a role in delaying bed times across cultures. The light from these screens disrupts the body’s ability to fall asleep.
In an article by Sean Coughlan for the BBC News, he reported that sleep researcher at Northwestern University, Karrie Fitzpatrick, said, “Having a computer screen that is eight inches away from your face is going to expose you to a lot more light than watching a television on the opposite side of the room. It’s going to tell your brain to stay awake. That light can reset the whole circadian rhythm system.”
In addition to poor performance at school and work, we are putting our body’s health at risk by pushing it to stay awake until later hours of the night.
Researchers have found that adults who get less than 6 hours of sleep at night are at greater risk for being overweight. In his research, Dr. Matthew Brady at the University of Chicago found that sleeping less reduced the sensitivity of the body’s cells to insulin. This means that more insulin is produced and more insulin is coursing through the bloodstream, a leading factor in the development of diabetes and obesity.
Sleep helps regulate stress hormones and helps the nervous system remain healthy. Over time, a lack of sleep could hurt your body’s ability to regulate stress hormones, leading to high blood pressure.
Lack of sleep decreases the body’s release of human growth hormone. In children, human growth hormone (as expected by the name) promotes growth.
So our grandmother’s adage, “you grow when you sleep” is true. But human growth hormone is important for adults too as it helps maintain muscle mass, healthy skin, and strong bones. It is an important part of normal tissue repair, patching the wear and tear of the day.
Sleep deprivation can put your safety at risk on the road. In laboratory studies of neurobehavioral functions, sleep restriction and fatigue significantly prolonged the subjects’ reaction time. Delayed response to a sudden situation could cause a car accident. Short sleep hours at night puts drivers at risk of sleep related crashes.
To remain alert and focused throughout the day, to repair body tissues, and to keep body hormones in balance, we need to get somewhere between 6 and 8 of shut-eye at night. We cannot make up for missed sleep during the day.
When we read the Holy Qur’an, we should reflect more closely on the verses and their meanings and how to apply them to our lives. Our Lord tells us in the Qur’an that night is a time of rest and sleep, yet many people have taken an opposite sleeping pattern.
{And it is He who has made the night for you as clothing and sleep [a means for] rest and has made the day for rising.} (Chapter 25, verse 47)
{And made your sleep [a means for] rest. And made the night a clothing. And made the day for livelihood.} (Chapter 78, verses 9-11)
As for Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) whom we try to follow, he has emphasized the blessings that we can find in our time and lives by sleeping early and rising early.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) disliked staying up late. He (peace be upon him) would sleep shortly after Ishaa prayer to be able to wake up again in the last third portion of the night to pray voluntary prayers, and sleep a little more, and wake up again for Fajr prayer.
In an authentic account of the Prophet’s companions recorded in Sahih Bukhari, they said, “Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to like to delay the Ishaa prayer and he hated to sleep before it or talk after it.”
He (peace be upon him) would wait until the people had concluded their affairs for the day and gathered at the masjid to pray Ishaa together, and after that he would sleep.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Allah made the early hours blessed for my Ummah.” (Ahmad)
The earliest hours of the morning are filled with blessings, and we are missing out on this special time when we stay up late at night and wake up late and groggy.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to take a short nap at midday (around noon). What the Prophet (peace be upon him) called a ‘qaylula’ is now called a power nap, and it must be short.
“You can get incredible benefits from 15 to 20 minutes of napping. You reset the system and get a burst of alertness and increased motor performance. That’s what most people really need to stave off sleepiness and get an energy boost,” said Dr. Sara C. Mednick, sleep expert and author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life.
The Prophetic tradition is so rich in lifestyle habits to cultivate that will benefit our physical, emotional, and spiritual health, and one of them is sleeping earlier at night. Changing an entire culture may be impossible but we can bring positive change one home at a time.
Now that we have established the importance of a better sleep pattern, the next article will cover natural sleeping aids and the Prophet’s bedtime rituals.
