I ask You for well-being.’ A man asked him, ‘Did you hear this from Umar?’ He replied, ‘From one better than Umar: from the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him.’”1.

These hadiths clearly demonstrate that the human soul is in the hand of Allah—Glorified is He. He brought it into existence from nothing and created it after it had not existed. If He wills, He retains it while the person sleeps, so that he becomes one of the dead; and if He wills, He releases it, thereby allowing the person to remain alive. Hence, he said, “To You belong its death and its life”; that is, this lies in Your hand and is subject to Your control and governance. No one besides You has power over it. You give life and cause death, and You have power over all things.

It is therefore prescribed for the Muslim at such a time to ask his Lord for protection if He has decreed that he remain alive, and to ask Him for mercy and forgiveness if He has decreed his death. Thus, in the hadith of Abū Hurayrah, he said: “If You retain my soul, have mercy upon it; and if You release it, protect it as You protect Your righteous servants.” In the hadith of Ibn Umar, he said: “If You give it life, protect it; and if You cause it to die, forgive it.”

Just as the Muslim should remember his ultimate end and final destiny when he retires to bed, he should also remember the blessings Allah bestowed upon him throughout the days that have passed—food, drink, shelter, health, and well-being—and praise and thank Allah for them.

Hence, it is authentically reported in Muslim’s Sahīh from Anas ibn Mālik—may Allah be pleased with him—that when the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—retired to bed, he would say: “Praise be to Allah who fed us, gave us drink, sufficed us, and sheltered us,