بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
Ya’eesh ibn Tihfah al-Ghifaari reported that his father said: “I stayed as a guest with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) with those of the poor whom he hosted. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came out in the night to check up on his guests, and saw me lying on my stomach. He prodded me with his foot and said, ‘Do not lie in this manner, for it is a way of lying that Allah hates.’” [Tirmidhi]
Not only does Allah Himself prohibit this but recent studies have proven that sleeping on the stomach can cause various physical issues too:
- It puts pressure on the spine causing a strain in the back and throughout the body as the spine holds most of the body’s nerves.
- Since one must move the head to the side in order to breath while the body is facing down, sleeping on the stomach also puts strain on the neck. Over time this can cause permanent damage such as a herniated disk.
- The organs of the abdomen will be pressurised by the weight of the body and spine thus pushing them against the heart and lungs giving the sleeper a slower heart rate. This causes fatigue making it even more difficult to get up and is also generally unhealthy for the circulatory system.
- The digestive system will not be functioning properly either due to the weight of the body sitting on the area in which digestion takes place.
The Sunnah of the prophet (ﷺ) for sleeping is as follows:
“When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to retire to his bed, he would lie on his right side and then say, ‘O Allah, I surrender my soul to You and I turn my face to You and I entrust my affair to You and I seek Your support with hope and fear of You. There is no refuge from You but to You. I have believed in Your Book which You sent down and Your Prophet whom You sent.'” [Bukhari]
It is also mentioned:
“When the Prophet (ﷺ) went to bed at night, he would put his hand under his cheek, then say, ‘Allaahumma bismika amootu wa ahyaa (O Allah, in Your name I die and I live).’ Then when he woke up he would say, ‘Al-hamdu Lillaah alladhi ahyaanaa ba’da ma amaatanaa wa ilayhi al-nushoor (Praise be to Allah who has brought us back to life after causing us to die, and to Him is the resurrection).’” [Bukhari]
It has been proven that sleeping on the side is the healthiest position to avoid all the issues mentioned above. Furthermore, scholars have said that switching to the left side is also permissible; the position to avoid in lying on the stomach.
Allah knows best.