What the Quran says
ٱللَّهُ يَتَوَفَّى ٱلْأَنفُسَ حِينَ مَوْتِهَا وَٱلَّتِى لَمْ تَمُتْ فِى مَنَامِهَا ۖ فَيُمْسِكُ ٱلَّتِى قَضَىٰ عَلَيْهَا ٱلْمَوْتَ وَيُرْسِلُ ٱلْأُخْرَىٰٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى
“Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that do not die [He takes] during their sleep. Then He keeps those for which He has decreed death and releases the others for a specified term. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought” (Quran 39:42).
And: “It is He who takes your souls by night and knows what you have committed by day. Then He revives you therein, that a specified term may be fulfilled. Then to Him will be your return” (Quran 6:60).
The same Arabic word, yatawaffā (He takes), is used for death and for sleep. That is why scholars call sleep a “lesser death”: the soul is taken, but not fully, and it is returned.
So where does it go?
The Quran tells us that Allah takes the soul in sleep and who decides whether it returns. It does not describe a place. Allah also says that knowledge of the soul (rūḥ) is His affair and we have been given only a little knowledge (Quran 17:85). Some scholars have written about the soul’s state in sleep, but we stay with what is clearly stated and leave the rest to Allah.
What the Prophet ﷺ said before sleeping
He ﷺ taught us to shake out the bed, then say (Sahih al-Bukhari 6320):
بِاسْمِكَ رَبِّ وَضَعْتُ جَنْبِي، وَبِكَ أَرْفَعُهُ، إِنْ أَمْسَكْتَ نَفْسِي فَارْحَمْهَا، وَإِنْ أَرْسَلْتَهَا فَاحْفَظْهَا بِمَا تَحْفَظُ بِهِ عِبَادَكَ الصَّالِحِينَ
Bismika Rabbī waḍaʿtu janbī, wa bika arfaʿuh. In amsakta nafsī farḥamhā, wa in arsaltahā faḥfaẓhā bimā taḥfaẓu bihī ʿibādakaṣ-ṣāliḥīn. “In Your name, my Lord, I lie down, and by You I rise. If You keep my soul, have mercy on it; and if You send it back, protect it as You protect Your righteous servants.” Notice how it mirrors Quran 39:42: keep and send back.
A shorter version: Bismika amūtu wa aḥyā, “In Your name I die and I live” (Sahih al-Bukhari 6312). See more in our dua before sleeping.
What to say when you wake up
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَحْيَانَا بَعْدَ مَا أَمَاتَنَا وَإِلَيْهِ النُّشُورُ
Al-ḥamdu lillāhil-ladhī aḥyānā baʿda mā amātanā wa ilayhin-nushūr. “Praise be to Allah, who gave us life after He had caused us to die, and to Him is the resurrection” (Sahih al-Bukhari 6312). Every morning is a small return of life, and a reminder of the final return.
What about dreams?
The Prophet ﷺ said: “A good dream is from Allah, and a bad dream is from Satan.” If you see a bad dream that frightens you, spit lightly (dry) to your left and seek refuge in Allah from its evil, and it will not harm you (Sahih al-Bukhari 3292; Sahih Muslim 2261). Don’t tell people about a bad dream.
The lesson
Sleep is a nightly reminder that our life is in Allah’s hands. Sleep with wudu if you can, say the duas above, and wake up with Alhamdulillah. Then begin the day with the morning adhkar and Fajr.