3 Superb Proofs Why Sleeping on Your Stomach is Not Haram
C.J Ahmed-18.03.2023
Sleeping on your stomach is not haram. When it comes to sleep, there is this one position of sleep that is attacked by some scholars and physicians who consider sleeping on your stomach is something that is detrimental to your health. In this article, you will learn that sleeping on your stomach is not actually haram in Islam and the hadith used as evidence to prove that it is haram are all weak hadiths.
Hadiths which say that sleeping on the stomach is haram or makruh.
The hadiths that speak of lying on ones stomach to be forbidden or disliked have a lot of weaknesses.
Ya'ish bin Tikhfah Al-Ghifari reported,
My father said: I was lying down on my belly in the mosque when someone shook me with his foot and said, "Lying down this way is disapproved by Allah." I looked up and saw that it was Messenger of Allah (Sal).
(Abu Dawud,Ibn Majah and others)
Although scholars like sheikh Albani and imam Nawawi have graded this hadith as sound, the more convincing arguments comes from the scholars who have said that this hadith is weak. Imam Bukhari,said that the chain of narrators in this hadith have a big mis narration. This is known as Idteraab meaning that the narrator interchanges the names in a chain he sometimes narrates. The narrator, Ibn Thikfah is unknown meaning it is majhool (Al-Tarikh Al-Kabeer: 4/365-367 and Al-Darqutni in Al-I'lal: 9/299). This hadith has many weaknesses and doubts hence it is daif.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (Rali),
When Allah's Messenger (Sal) saw a man lying on his stomach he said, "This is a method of lying down which Allah does not like."
(Tirmidhi,Musnad Ahmed)
The above hadith has Muhammad bin U'mro who had mistaken in this chain of narrators and was graded as defective and mursal (broken in chain) by Imam Bukhari in Tarikh al-kabeer: 4/366, Imam Abu hatim in I'lal: 2/233 no-2186 and Darqutni in Al-I'lal: 9/300.
There is also another hadith narrated by Abu Humamah (Rali) on the prophet (Sal) forbidding sleeping on the stomach and is found in Ibn Majah, Adab al Mufrad-1188. The cain of narrators have Al Waleed bin Jameel whomm Abu Hatim said that he is a sheikh who narrates munkar (Rejected and wrong) hadiths. Abu Zar'a said about Al Waleed that he is a shaikh but his hadith is Layyin (unreliable). This hadith also has Salam bin Raja and Yahya bin Mu'min said that Salam bin Raja is unreliable.Al Nisai said that he is weak and Abu Ahmad bin Udai said that his hadiths are odd and strange.
Those who say that the above hadiths are reliable should bring proofs to establish that the reliability of the narrators outweigh the weaknesses in them. Even if we for the sake of argument agree that these hadiths are authentic, there is still evidence to prove that the prophet (Sal) did indeed lie down on his belly. Anas b. Malik reported:
Proof-1-Abu Talha saw Allah's Messenger (Sal) lying down upon his belly in the mosque. He came to Umm Sulaim and said: I saw Allah's Messenger (Sal) lying down upon the belly in the mosque, and I think he is hungry. The rest of the hadith is the same (but with the addition of these words) that Allah's messenger (Sal) ate (the food) and so did Abu Talha, Umm Sulaim and Anas b. Malik, but there was left some. thing which we presented to our neighbours.
(Sahih Muslim)
In the above hadith narrated in Sahih Muslim, proves that the prophet (Sal) clear used to lie down on his stomach and it is strange how some could not understand this hadith when it is crystal clear to anyone that lying down or sleeping on the stomach is indeed halal from the evidence of this hadith.
Analyzing the medical claims about sleeping on your stomach.
When it come to talking on the issue of sleeping or lying down on ones belly, you cannot avoid the medical arguments which say that lying on your stomach is bad for your health. If you do a google search to find out whether sleeping on your stomach is bad for health you will find that most the articles that say that doing so is detrimental are just based on flimsical arguments and theories. Let us look at one example below.
"Sleeping on your stomach can be hard on your back. If you can't sleep any other way, reduce the strain on your back by placing a pillow under your pelvis and lower abdomen. Use a pillow under your head if it doesn't place too much strain on your back. If it does cause strain, try sleeping without a pillow under your head".
(https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/back-pain/multimedia/sleeping-positions/sls-20076452?s=3)
Let us look at another article that was published on healthline.
“The spine protects your nervous system, which controls and coordinates all the different functions of your body,” McAllister says. “Any disruption in nerve communication to your organs and body tissues will result in abnormal function.”
(https://www.healthline.com/health/reading-on-stomach)
Both these and many more articles do not give clear research evidence that prove that sleeping on the belly causes any symptoms of pain or any discomfort. Rather, all of the opinions are based on ongoing research,hypothesis and assumptions by doctors that cannot be taken as real evidence to prove the ill effects of sleeping on ones stomach. The same healthline article itself mentioned the following about the research on sleeping on ones belly as follows,
"Studies have linked persistent low-back problems to chronic constipation and other bowel issues, and although more research needs to be done, back pain may also have an association with bladder incontinence".
(https://www.healthline.com/health/reading-on-stomach#gut-and-anxiety-problems)
What can be understood is that there are no conclusive research evidence to prove that sleeping on your stomach can cause serious health issues for an individual. There are physicians who might argue that sleeping on your stomach can cause spine pain and breathing issues but all this are based on speculation. Even if there is fear that lying or sleeping in the belly position , you can simple ue a pillow to avoid any discomfort arising due to sleeping is such a position. There are health benefits that have been overlooked by the medical community for sleeping on ones belly. One research found that sleeping on ones stomach will help asthma patients. The research mentioned as follows,
Proof-2-The main result of this study is that, compared with the prone position (belly position), the supine position resulted in equally hypoventilated, but larger, ventilation defective regions during bronchoconstriction with MCh. Given that all subjects inhaled MCh in the prone position, these findings suggest that factors other than agonist distribution favored the formation of larger Vdefs in the supine position. One obvious candidate is gravitational effects on regional lung volume, where reduced lung expansion, particularly of dependent areas, decreased lung parenchymal tethering forces on airways, making them smaller and more prone to severe constriction as smooth muscle tone increased.
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2711796/)
Proo-3-Another research published by Armin bidarian moniri stated that people who slept in the stomach or in other words the prone position have better respiratory breathing and help people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The research mentioned as follows,
"To our knowledge, these are the first studies to observe the effect of prone positioning as a treatment for OSA patients. Our findings are suggestive that OSA may be caused by bad sleeping habits and not an airway pathology, which would explain the high prevalence. Human beings should most probably sleep in the prone and lateral positions like other mammals".
(https://www.entandaudiologynews.com/development/spotlight-on-innovation/post/should-human-beings-sleep-in-the-prone-position)
Like all the other misunderstanding among Muslims, the issue of disliking or forbidding sleeping on ones stomach is a widely held belief. Gnerally the sunnah is to sleep on ones right side.
Narrated by Al-Bara' bin `Azib(Rali),
"When Allah's Messenger (Sal) went to bed, he used to sleep on his right side and then say, "All-ahumma aslamtu nafsi ilaika, wa wajjahtu wajhi ilaika, wa fauwadtu `Amri ilaika, wa alja'tu zahri ilaika, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilaika. La Malja'a wa la manja minka illa ilaika. Amantu bikitabika al-ladhi anzalta wa nabiyyika al-ladhi arsalta! Allah's Messenger (Sal) said, "Whoever recites these words (before going to bed) and dies the same night, he will die on the Islamic religion (as a Muslim)".
(Bukhari)
Narrated by Al-Bara' bin `Azib(Rali),
The prophet (Sal) said,
“When you go to bed, do wudu’ as if for prayer, then lie down on your right side"
(Bukhari)
What needs to be understood is that a Sunnah is something that a Muslim can follow according to his ability and is not an obligation and not something that has to be forced upon everyone. Sleeping on the stomach is something that Islam never forbade and even the prophet (Sal) used to lie down on his stomach in the mosques as narrated in a hadith in Sahih Muslim hence making the position of sleeping on ones stomach a Sunnah. Unfortunately the widespread blind following among the Muslim community is hindering them from questioning sources and using their intellect to understand the deen of Allah in the light of authentic sources. I hope that this article will serve as a refutation for those who are of the view that sleeping on ones stomach is haram or makruh.
Sleeping on your stomach is not haram. When it comes to sleep, there is this one position of sleep that is attacked by some scholars and physicians who consider sleeping on your stomach is something that is detrimental to your health. In this article, you will learn that sleeping on your stomach is not actually haram in Islam and the hadith used as evidence to prove that it is haram are all weak hadiths.
Hadiths which say that sleeping on the stomach is haram or makruh.
The hadiths that speak of lying on ones stomach to be forbidden or disliked have a lot of weaknesses.
Ya'ish bin Tikhfah Al-Ghifari reported,
My father said: I was lying down on my belly in the mosque when someone shook me with his foot and said, "Lying down this way is disapproved by Allah." I looked up and saw that it was Messenger of Allah (Sal).
(Abu Dawud,Ibn Majah and others)
Although scholars like sheikh Albani and imam Nawawi have graded this hadith as sound, the more convincing arguments comes from the scholars who have said that this hadith is weak. Imam Bukhari,said that the chain of narrators in this hadith have a big mis narration. This is known as Idteraab meaning that the narrator interchanges the names in a chain he sometimes narrates. The narrator, Ibn Thikfah is unknown meaning it is majhool (Al-Tarikh Al-Kabeer: 4/365-367 and Al-Darqutni in Al-I'lal: 9/299). This hadith has many weaknesses and doubts hence it is daif.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (Rali),
When Allah's Messenger (Sal) saw a man lying on his stomach he said, "This is a method of lying down which Allah does not like."
(Tirmidhi,Musnad Ahmed)
The above hadith has Muhammad bin U'mro who had mistaken in this chain of narrators and was graded as defective and mursal (broken in chain) by Imam Bukhari in Tarikh al-kabeer: 4/366, Imam Abu hatim in I'lal: 2/233 no-2186 and Darqutni in Al-I'lal: 9/300.
There is also another hadith narrated by Abu Humamah (Rali) on the prophet (Sal) forbidding sleeping on the stomach and is found in Ibn Majah, Adab al Mufrad-1188. The cain of narrators have Al Waleed bin Jameel whomm Abu Hatim said that he is a sheikh who narrates munkar (Rejected and wrong) hadiths. Abu Zar'a said about Al Waleed that he is a shaikh but his hadith is Layyin (unreliable). This hadith also has Salam bin Raja and Yahya bin Mu'min said that Salam bin Raja is unreliable.Al Nisai said that he is weak and Abu Ahmad bin Udai said that his hadiths are odd and strange.
Those who say that the above hadiths are reliable should bring proofs to establish that the reliability of the narrators outweigh the weaknesses in them. Even if we for the sake of argument agree that these hadiths are authentic, there is still evidence to prove that the prophet (Sal) did indeed lie down on his belly. Anas b. Malik reported:
Proof-1-Abu Talha saw Allah's Messenger (Sal) lying down upon his belly in the mosque. He came to Umm Sulaim and said: I saw Allah's Messenger (Sal) lying down upon the belly in the mosque, and I think he is hungry. The rest of the hadith is the same (but with the addition of these words) that Allah's messenger (Sal) ate (the food) and so did Abu Talha, Umm Sulaim and Anas b. Malik, but there was left some. thing which we presented to our neighbours.
(Sahih Muslim)
In the above hadith narrated in Sahih Muslim, proves that the prophet (Sal) clear used to lie down on his stomach and it is strange how some could not understand this hadith when it is crystal clear to anyone that lying down or sleeping on the stomach is indeed halal from the evidence of this hadith.
Analyzing the medical claims about sleeping on your stomach.
When it come to talking on the issue of sleeping or lying down on ones belly, you cannot avoid the medical arguments which say that lying on your stomach is bad for your health. If you do a google search to find out whether sleeping on your stomach is bad for health you will find that most the articles that say that doing so is detrimental are just based on flimsical arguments and theories. Let us look at one example below.
"Sleeping on your stomach can be hard on your back. If you can't sleep any other way, reduce the strain on your back by placing a pillow under your pelvis and lower abdomen. Use a pillow under your head if it doesn't place too much strain on your back. If it does cause strain, try sleeping without a pillow under your head".
(https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/back-pain/multimedia/sleeping-positions/sls-20076452?s=3)
Let us look at another article that was published on healthline.
“The spine protects your nervous system, which controls and coordinates all the different functions of your body,” McAllister says. “Any disruption in nerve communication to your organs and body tissues will result in abnormal function.”
(https://www.healthline.com/health/reading-on-stomach)
Both these and many more articles do not give clear research evidence that prove that sleeping on the belly causes any symptoms of pain or any discomfort. Rather, all of the opinions are based on ongoing research,hypothesis and assumptions by doctors that cannot be taken as real evidence to prove the ill effects of sleeping on ones stomach. The same healthline article itself mentioned the following about the research on sleeping on ones belly as follows,
"Studies have linked persistent low-back problems to chronic constipation and other bowel issues, and although more research needs to be done, back pain may also have an association with bladder incontinence".
(https://www.healthline.com/health/reading-on-stomach#gut-and-anxiety-problems)
What can be understood is that there are no conclusive research evidence to prove that sleeping on your stomach can cause serious health issues for an individual. There are physicians who might argue that sleeping on your stomach can cause spine pain and breathing issues but all this are based on speculation. Even if there is fear that lying or sleeping in the belly position , you can simple ue a pillow to avoid any discomfort arising due to sleeping is such a position. There are health benefits that have been overlooked by the medical community for sleeping on ones belly. One research found that sleeping on ones stomach will help asthma patients. The research mentioned as follows,
Proof-2-The main result of this study is that, compared with the prone position (belly position), the supine position resulted in equally hypoventilated, but larger, ventilation defective regions during bronchoconstriction with MCh. Given that all subjects inhaled MCh in the prone position, these findings suggest that factors other than agonist distribution favored the formation of larger Vdefs in the supine position. One obvious candidate is gravitational effects on regional lung volume, where reduced lung expansion, particularly of dependent areas, decreased lung parenchymal tethering forces on airways, making them smaller and more prone to severe constriction as smooth muscle tone increased.
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2711796/)
Proo-3-Another research published by Armin bidarian moniri stated that people who slept in the stomach or in other words the prone position have better respiratory breathing and help people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The research mentioned as follows,
"To our knowledge, these are the first studies to observe the effect of prone positioning as a treatment for OSA patients. Our findings are suggestive that OSA may be caused by bad sleeping habits and not an airway pathology, which would explain the high prevalence. Human beings should most probably sleep in the prone and lateral positions like other mammals".
(https://www.entandaudiologynews.com/development/spotlight-on-innovation/post/should-human-beings-sleep-in-the-prone-position)
Like all the other misunderstanding among Muslims, the issue of disliking or forbidding sleeping on ones stomach is a widely held belief. Gnerally the sunnah is to sleep on ones right side.
Narrated by Al-Bara' bin `Azib(Rali),
"When Allah's Messenger (Sal) went to bed, he used to sleep on his right side and then say, "All-ahumma aslamtu nafsi ilaika, wa wajjahtu wajhi ilaika, wa fauwadtu `Amri ilaika, wa alja'tu zahri ilaika, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilaika. La Malja'a wa la manja minka illa ilaika. Amantu bikitabika al-ladhi anzalta wa nabiyyika al-ladhi arsalta! Allah's Messenger (Sal) said, "Whoever recites these words (before going to bed) and dies the same night, he will die on the Islamic religion (as a Muslim)".
(Bukhari)
Narrated by Al-Bara' bin `Azib(Rali),
The prophet (Sal) said,
“When you go to bed, do wudu’ as if for prayer, then lie down on your right side"
(Bukhari)
What needs to be understood is that a Sunnah is something that a Muslim can follow according to his ability and is not an obligation and not something that has to be forced upon everyone. Sleeping on the stomach is something that Islam never forbade and even the prophet (Sal) used to lie down on his stomach in the mosques as narrated in a hadith in Sahih Muslim hence making the position of sleeping on ones stomach a Sunnah. Unfortunately the widespread blind following among the Muslim community is hindering them from questioning sources and using their intellect to understand the deen of Allah in the light of authentic sources. I hope that this article will serve as a refutation for those who are of the view that sleeping on ones stomach is haram or makruh.