The Daily Routine of The Prophet ﷺ (Full Breakdown)

If you sleep more than 6 hours, you're wasting your life. If you're not being productive every day, every moment of your life, you're wasting the most valuable asset you have. When he prayed Isha, he liked to go straight to sleep. People say, I don't have time. They're lying. They don't use their time correctly.

How can they use the time correctly?

Look, and this is something that's very productive as well.

Interesting. That's how they managed to pray at night every day. Yes, but Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Welcome to a new episode. In this episode, we're talking about routines. Should you take cold showers in the morning? Should you go to Bali and do some meditation? Keep your journal. What's the best?

Are you gonna be belly dancing out there in Bali?

No, no, I don't know. That's what people say online.

The best routine is the routine of the best of mankind. The greatest man to exist, the leader of Bani Adam, the Imam of all of the Prophets, the last Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). No Bali, no Fali, no Kali. You go out there to the routine of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

Let's speak about it. What was the routine of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)?

We see many Ahadith that put together, we see a general skeleton of the schedule of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). The hadith that first I'll begin with is the morning, right? Because we'll begin with the early.

At what time did the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) start his day?

So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) started his day before Fajr. Okay. Right? And what he would do is he would wake up before Fajr and he would pray Qiyam al-Layl. He would pray Tahajjud. And we'll talk about this again in the latter part of his schedule as well. But Aisha (رَدِيَانْهَا), mentions a beautiful hadith in Al-Bukhari that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would get up around the middle of the night or the last third of the night, depending, right? Because there's always going to be some flexibility because there are situations that are going to come up, right? But he would get up, he would start his routine before Fajr, and he would pray. And the regular way of Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in Ramadan and outside of Ramadan is to make 11 rak'at of nafal salah at night. And he would make them in segments. So 4, meaning 2 and 2, and then he would rest a little bit, and then 4, 2 and 2, and then he would relax, and then 2 and 1, which is 3, which is the shaf' and witr. So this is the regular, as supported by Aisha radiAllahu anha in Sahih al-Bukhari. So we know from the hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam that night prayer is done in 2 and 2s. Segments of 2. So when 4 is mentioned here, it's not 4 together, but it is 2 and 2. And he would recite so long in this that some of the ahadith mentioned that he finished Al-Baqarah and Al-Imran and Surah Al-Maidah and Surah Nisa, and sometimes he would switch the order for them as well in the second parts. So imagine in each raka'a, he would recite that long.

SubhanAllah.

So that's how beautiful and long and relaxed his salah was. And Ibn Amr (RA) and others described that his ruku would be like his qiyam. And his getting up from ruku would be like his ruku. And his sujood would be like that. So he didn't just kind of rush through it. Imagine reading surah of the Quran like Al-Baqarah and then making a ruku that long. And he had many adhkar that he would make in the ruku and the dua. And sujood, making his sujood so long. He would stand in the nights till his feet would crack and swell and bleed. And this is the best of mankind. There is not a sin that he's worried about. But he loved Allah. Aisha (ra) told the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), 'O Messenger of Allah, you don't have any sins on you, and if you did in the past or the future, it would be forgiven. So why?' He said, 'Shouldn't I be 'Abdu'l-Shukura'? Look at this wording. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, should I not be a thankful servant? Shukr, by the way, is done with the amal, with action. If you want to thank Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) with your tongue, that's hamd. You don't say shukr Allah like some people today, especially the ajam that don't know Arabic, they will say shukr Allah. Many people that are even Arab, Like after ruku, they will say, "Laqal hamd wa shukr." Even though this is not mentioned in hadith. "Laqal hamd wa shukr baad ar-ruqoo" is not mentioned in hadith. Rather, "Rabbana wa laqal hamd, hamdan kateeran, tayyiban mubarakan fee millis samawati wal ard," so on. So many beautiful adhkaar are mentioned. You should use them. But this word shukr, to thank Allah with the tongue, is not mentioned. But the amal of Ali (Abu Lahya) and Eyoub (Abu Lahya), shukra. The Ahl of Dawud (AS) and his family, they would do actions to thank Allah. Shukr is action. So, when Rasulullah (SAW) is saying, 'Shouldn't I be 'Abdu al-Shukura?' Shouldn't I be 'Abd,' the slave of Allah, who does good actions to thank Allah? So, why are we lacking in that? Why is it that only in Ramadan that we stand in taraweeh, but the rest of the year, where is that 11 raka'ah the rest of the year? Sahih Qayyamul Layl.

Qayyamul Layl.

And taraweeh is qiyamul layl for Ramadan. There is no word taraweeh in hadith. This is— and Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) prayed taraweeh, meaning in Bukhari he prayed that qiyamul layl in Ramadan in Jama'ah, but he prayed it the rest of the year as well. There's more emphasis in Ramadan, no doubt, but we shouldn't forget it. So this is the first part of the day. He would start his day early with the worship of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), and that would go on until close to the adhan of Fajr. So imagine from the middle of the night or the third of the night, that is such beautiful long salawat. And if you cannot do all of that, make rakatayn. The Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did not specify a certain number for Qiyamul-Layl. So if you make 2 rakat or 36 rakat, it's still Qiyamul-Layl, no problem, pray it. But end it with witr.

Okay, so one unit.

One unit, odd. Whether you make it 3 with one tashahhud, but the regular way is to make 2, make salam, and make one One raka'ah wither, to end. This is what Aisha (ra) said in Bukhari, raka'ah wahda, I mean one raka'ah was his end. Then he would wait as the adhan would happen, and he would sit and he would put his foot on the other, and he would sit there and wait for the adhan. And the adhan would happen, he would go to the masjid. And before even going to the masjid, at times we see ahadith where Sahaba would come and discuss things with him, and he would give them answers and so on. And there's a beautiful hadith, because when you talk about sunnah, there is the fi'al an-Nabi (صلى الله عليه وسلم), what Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did. There is the qawl of Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم), what he said. And there's ikraar, what he saw and approved of. There's a beautiful hadith, and I'm going to really want you guys to think about this hadith. Focus, all right?

You got my attention now.

I got your attention? Good, that's what I was going for. One day, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) finished Fajr Salah. It was Fajr. And he turned around and he said, which one of you, to the Sahaba, gave Sadaqah today? Today, meaning after the Adhan of Fajr until the Salah.

They just started.

They just started, right? From the Adhan to the Ikama of Fajr, who gave Sadaqah? Abu Bakr (ra) said, me, Ya Rasulullah. He said, who visited a sick today? Abu Bakr (ra) said, me, Ya Rasulullah. Imagine, for by Fajr Salah.

Yeah, that's like 5 AM, 4 AM, 5 AM, 6 AM.

Ibn Kathir explains, he says that Abu Bakr (ra) on his way to the masjid heard about a Sahabi that was ill, visit them to remind them to come to the masjid or ask about them on the way. On the way they said, who gave sadaqah today? He said, me. On the way to the masjid he gave sadaqah. He said, who began this day fasting? Abu Bakr (ra) said, I did, O Messenger of Allah. He said, who prayed a janazah today? He said, I, ya Rasulullah. Subhanallah, the Sahaba (ra), they didn't delay the janazahs. You know, today, somebody dies, no, no, no, no, his grandfather's not here and his uncle's not here, we're going to wait 2 weeks, we're going to put him in a freezer because his aunt wants to see his body and she's flying in from this country and we're going to do an open casket and people are going to come and do all this bid'ah and give speeches and things. No. Sahaba were simple. He passed away, khalas. Then he has to wash the body, put the coffin, bury him. So on the way, in early morning, somebody died in the night. When they woke up, they saw that he was dead. They washed his body, they put the thing, and they buried him, did the janaza before Fajr Salah. So Ubayqir (ra) prayed janaza, woke up fasting, gave sadaqah, visited the sick before Fajr. And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, whoever combines these in one day, It's going to be from the people of Jannah.

SubhanAllah.

Right? So, let's do this. Right? So now look at the productivity there. No slacking.

So he woke up before Fajr, he prayed Qiyam-ul-Layl, then he would rest a little bit, go to the masjid.

Yes, and at times, even before that, he would solve issues for people.

Really? Before Fajr?

Before Fajr. People would come and see him and he would answer their questions before Fajr. When he prayed Fajr, alayhi salatu wasalam, he would turn around to his companions and teach them. At times he would ask them, has anybody seen a dream? And when they said they did, he would interpret the dream for them. At times he would tell them, if nobody else, then he would tell about his own dreams and teach them. And at times he would turn around and teach them certain Masal. We've seen many Ahadith where he would turn around after Fajr and teach the Sahaba something. Then he would sit in the Masjid as mentioned in Sahih Muslim, until Ishraq, until the Shurooq, until the sun has risen. And he would make adhkar and he would make his dua and he would have his personal time as well. And at times, as Umar (ra) said, people would come and they would ask him questions and he would answer them. After that, he would go home and he would busy himself with his family matters.

Okay.

Right? Aisha (ra), for example, in a hadith mentioned when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would come from the masjid, he would busy himself in helping around the house. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) gave us such a beautiful example that he went home, he started helping his wife. He went home, he was giving lessons to his children, his grandchildren. He was teaching Hassan and Hussain (ra) dua and adhkar. So many hadith like this. Aisha (ra) said when he was in the house, he would help her in the house. If he saw there was dishes or mending, mending his own clothes, he would go and do it. It doesn't mean that women should tell their husband, go mend your own clothes. No. But if a man out of his own goodness does that, that's a good sign.

He would be rewarded for it.

But the taking care of the house and taking care of the clothes are the woman's responsibility. And that was regularly done by the wives of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). But out of his goodness, he would help even in that. And From there until Dhuhr, there was his time to deal with issues, including the issues of the Ummah that would come and so on. Then before Dhuhr or after it, depending on the season, when it was very, very hot, he would take a nap.

Oh, really?

It's called Qaylula. Qaylula is Sunnah, and this is something that's very productive as well.

Very good.

And I can tell you, My Sheikh told me, and I've seen this in my own life, that if you don't pray that, or if you don't take that rest of Qaylullah, you'll have a hard time with Tahajjud.

Interesting.

Yes.

That's how they managed to pray at night every day.

Yes.

Okay.

And this would be different amounts of times have been given, within 20 minutes to half an hour to an hour plus would be a rest.

Okay.

In the time that it was very hot, they would delay the Dhuhr. So, he would take the Qaylullah at the very hot time and then get up, make wudu, and pray the Dhuhr. And at times, they would pray the Dhuhr early, so then the Qaylullah would be after Dhuhr. But he would regularly take this nap.

Take a Qaylullah after.

Yes. Then, after that, again, dealing with the situation of Ummah, for us it would be like work and so on, and he prayed Asr Salah. And Asr Salah, he prayed early. He didn't like to delay Asr. Today sometimes people pray Asr right before Maghrib. But this is called the Salah of the Munafiq. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did not allow us to delay Asr. Yeah, he said, "Hafadha ala salat al-wusta." In the Quran as well, salat al-wusta, which is Asr. So he prayed the Asr, then Maghrib again he prayed early.

What did he do between Asr and Maghrib?

So these times between Dhuhr and Asr and Asr to Maghrib, or work times.

Okay, so worldly matters.

Worldly matters, deen matters, teaching matters. As a Khalifa, as a leader of the Muslim Ummah, he would have situations that came up, people that came to the masjid. Sometimes he had to dedicate that time for family matters, sometimes he had to— but usually it was busy with the Ummah at that time.

Very good.

Now again, at this time, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is not doing Tijarah and stuff as he was in his earlier life, but these would be the times for business as well, as other Sahaba would busy themselves in that time.

Up until Maghrib?

Up until Maghrib.

Okay.

Maghrib, he would pray early, and at Maghrib, after he prayed his Fard and he made his Sunan, he would many times turn around, educate the brothers, educate the people in the Masjid, deal with things, go home after Maghrib, deal with his family matters, help around, again, taking care of his daily needs, And he loved to delay Isha. So, he loved to pray Isha late. Not past the middle of the night, but late. And he liked to speak and do all his things before Isha. Between Maghrib and Isha was also a very productive time. When he prayed Isha, he liked to go straight to sleep.

Interesting.

He didn't like to speak after Isha. So, at times, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), the hadith is in Sahih Muslim, he would delay the Isha very late, and people, Sahaba would be sitting there nodding. And then he told Aisha (ra) that I would like to pray Isha always late, but I don't want it to be a burden on the people. Otherwise, this is the time for Isha.

And what time was that? The first third of the night?

Again, because we cannot say like 9 PM, 8 PM because of the thing, but it would be in the first third towards the end of it. Of the night, but never past the middle of the night.

And for people to understand, it's a good point that we mentioned. The night doesn't mean midnight or whatever the time is. It's between the time of Maghrib and the time of Fajr. That's what the night is.

But you know what's interesting? I've done a kind of case study. Almost everywhere, if you take the adhan of Maghrib and Fajr, you will get almost always the middle of the night is 12 o'clock. SubhanAllah. It's kind of interesting.

Yeah, interesting.

Yeah, because Sometimes the day is longer and shorter, but that middle stays, you know, it's interesting.

Yeah, because Maghrib and Fajr will stretch both, as in Maghrib would be later, Fajr is shorter. If Maghrib is earlier, then Fajr usually is later.

Or if the day is longer, then the Maghrib will be early and the Fajr will be late, but the middle will still be in the middle. And sometimes Maghrib will be late and Fajr will be early, but the middle will stay in the middle. But again, I mean, we're not saying 12 o'clock exactly.

It's middle of the night.

So if you want to know it, take the Maghrib Adhan, take the Fajr Adhan, Divided, and that's your middle. So, before that, but towards the later. But again, at times, he (AS) would pray it early to make it easy for the people, and so on. After Isha, regularly, he didn't like to speak. But there are ahadith sahih, like Umar (RA) mentioned authentic hadith that I was with the Prophet (SAW) after Isha Salah, and Abu Bakr (RA), and we were discussing the important things for the Ummah, and I was sitting with them. So, there are times. In fact, there are ahadith that mention that time the Prophet (SAW) sat after Isha, and gave the Sahaba advice and things till close to the Adhan of Fajr. SubhanAllah, okay. So, those are occasional times. So, there are times where yes, you will have to spend the night in different— because the Ummah is going through a situation or you are teaching a certain series and so on.

I mean, as we are doing literally right now. If we look at time right now, it's 4:29 and we are in the middle of Ramadan. So, literally Fajr is in 1 hour as we are speaking.

So, again, these are certain situations that come up and nothing wrong with that. And I'll tell you a beautiful example. Imam al-Bayhaqi, he mentions in the Manaqih of Imam al-Shafi'i, and it's not a hadith, this is a story about one of the Imams, which is Imam al-Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. So, we're not judging it like a hadith. So, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was a student of Imam al-Shafi'i, and he loved Imam Shafi'i, and they were very close. And Imam Shafi'i loved Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and he would tell him, you know more about hadith than me, so if you hear a hadith that I say that is not authentic, correct me and so on, and tell me the hadith sahih. So, I mean, They had a very beautiful relationship, even though it was a teacher and student, but because Imam Ahmad was more knowledgeable in hadith, Imam Shafi'i would refer to him many times in issues of hadith. So they had a very loving relationship as well as a student and teacher. Imam Ahmad would praise Imam Shafi'i to his family. You know, the sons of Imam Ahmad were also scholars, Abdullah and Saleh. So when they were young, to encourage them, he would tell them, my teacher Shafi'i like this, and Imam Shafi'i was a zahid and a person who didn't care about the worldly life. He was a person who prayed a lot. He was a person of knowledge. So you should encourage your children and your families with the praise of good people, so you connect their hearts with them. Not like, oh, this actor was in this movie, and this politician, and this sports guy, like fussaq and fujjar. Don't praise them. I'm sick of that. Praise the people of goodness to get your children to look up to them. Don't be, this guy kicked a ball so many times, who cares, right? So one day Imam Shafi'i decided to come and visit Imam Ahmad and stay in his house. So now this was a big deal. And Imam Ahmad, and he was a very strict zahid, zahid meaning he didn't love the dunya, he was a very strict person for the akhira. So every night he had the routine of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) as well, which is that he would have a bowl and a miswak, ready, and he would, as the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would, get up in the middle of the night, and he would make wudu, and he would do the siwak, and he would pray, and then he would go to the masjid, and so on. Imam Shafi'i came, and the children of Imam Ahmad left for him the bowl, like they did for their father, and a miswak, and everything ready. In the morning, Imam Shafi'i went for Fajr without having touched the water. So now the children of Imam Ahmad were like, 'You know, you praise this guy so much, not only did he not get up for Tahajjud, he didn't even make wudu and he went for Fajr. Like the water is still there.' But Imam Ahmad never allowed anybody to have any of these kind of things about anybody. So he asked Imam Shafi'i. Imam Shafi'i said, 'Look, I put my head down and I started to think of masa'il.' In some of the narrations of this story, they mention 70, and some mention different numbers. 'And I contemplated on these masa'il for the Ummah.' In one of the narrations of this, it's about one hadith.

What does masa'il mean?

Masa'il are the technical issues. What benefits we can derive for the Ummah. So, I started thinking of benefits for the Ummah. In one hadith, one of the narrations of the story, he said 70, and some mentioned more and so on. Some mentioned 1,000, 7,000, so on, whatever it was. But many of them, until the Adhan of Fajr, I didn't even sleep. That's why he didn't need to make wudu again. He still had his wudu, and he went straight to the masjid. So again, at times, yes, you can stay up all night. As Imam Abu Hanifa was famous that he would pray his Fajr with the wudu from his isha. Imam Muslim, that's how he died. He was researching and eating dates at night, hadith, and whether he overate or ate something rotten and so on, but he died from it. But he was up all night doing this research. So on. So at times for the Ummah, yes, you will stay up, but the regular way of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is after Isha, he would go to sleep until the middle of the night, and then he would get up and he would awaken his family members, his wives, his children to come and pray, and then he would begin the day from that middle of the night. So this is the routine of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And if we can, again, It's a very important thing to utilize your early morning.

Really? What's so specific about the mornings?

There's a hadith. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, "Oh Allah, put barakah in the early mornings of my Ummah." Really? Yes, so going to sleep after Fajr is not a good idea. At times you have to, I get it, because people are up late, some people work night shifts, I get it. It's not haram, but if you want barakah in your time, don't sleep after Fajr. Stay awake.

Very good. So it seems like from the story, the Prophet's routine was geared towards ibadah and also productivity. He would make the most out of his time. How could we replicate it in today's day and age? If people are running a business, working, how could they balance their journey so they both focus on the deen but also stay productive?

First thing, don't doom scroll. Don't sit there and waste 3 hours watching shorts that benefited you nothing. Yes, they may be funny. Yes, there may be funny pet videos or fails or kid fails and all these things that just entertain you, but you're wasting time. People say, I don't have time. They're lying. They don't use their time correctly.

How can they use the time correctly?

Look, first thing, what not to do. Doom scrolling has ruined our generations. Just swipe, swipe. People can't even wait for a 30-second video to be over. They're already bored. How will you learn knowledge? How will you learn Quran if you don't have the attention span?

That's very deep.

Don't doom scroll. Second, don't waste time with even mubah things.

What does that mean?

Mubah means maybe they're not haram. Like obviously music and looking at women indecently dressed or women looking at men indecently dressed, that's haram. But even things like sports, right? Even if the awrah is covered and things, what benefit? People sit and watch a 3-hour sports match, and they say they don't have time for Quran, they don't have time for dawah. People watch Netflix series for 30 hours that week. They binge-watch it, binging it, right? And then they don't have time for Quran. People sit and watch Artaghul and all these and make the excuse as if they're doing this for the deen. Instead of watching Artaghul, why couldn't you read the Quran? Why couldn't you read hadith? Why couldn't you watch a series on da'wah or on fiqh or on hadith? Why couldn't you watch lessons and benefit yourself? For me, I don't even like nasheeds. Even if they're halal, even if they have no music, even if they're— I don't like nasheeds. What did I benefit from a nasheed? Right? Now I'm saying all this, but I want to make a caveat because some people then go to an extreme. At times, you need to invest your time with your family, which is not a waste of time. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) had that balance. At the Eid, there were people that came and they were performing in the masjid. And outside. And there were people who were acrobats throwing weapons, throwing knives and kind of catching them, like entertainment.

What did the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) say? Did he stop them?

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), not only did he not stop them, but he brought Aisha (رَضِيَّانْهَا), covered obviously, sitting behind him so she could see when being screened, she could see this. So, he sat with his wife and watched that entertainment.

Very good. Why did he do this?

Because that's a bonding you need. When I was raising my children in America, it was difficult. A lot of my friends, the way they did it is they were very harsh. No TV, no games, no fun, no nothing, just Quran, hadith. Their kids rebelled. They ran away from the deen. It was just harshness. For me, I was friends with my sons. My sons and me grew up as friends. At times we joke. At times, we would play a video game together within boundaries. Why? Because if you just take it to a very strict, harsh level, then there is depression. Then there is lack of productivity because you become paralyzed with extremes.

How could people balance it out? How could they know the balance?

The balance is the life of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). At times, invest that time of sitting with your wife, sitting with your son, sitting with your daughter, sitting with your mother, and within the halal, not haram, within the halal, have some entertainment, have something that's fun.

What would be the limit?

The limit is always if there is nothing haram in it.

You're going to give people, they're going to say, suppose this is halal, let me watch it for 20 hours.

Yeah, so they know that's wrong.

That's extreme.

Your heart knows that's wrong.

So, it's what's within reason, as long as there is benefit.

As long as it is bonding for you and your family. And there may be some aspects that are not halal in it because that's the world we live in, unfortunately. Even in a cartoon sometimes, even if you take the music out and all of that stuff, and you get— you have to look at the balance there. Because I am giving practical advice. I could give you book advice, but that's not going to help you. You need to have a bond with your wife, you need to have a bond with your children, you need to have a bond with your siblings. And that at times may be something that is entertaining, but schedule that. Make that not every day for 6 hours a day. Like Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) spent that time with his wife, spent time with his children, joked with his children. Even, SubhanAllah, the hadith that Imam Shafi'i was contemplating upon, was the hadith of Anas ibn Malik's younger brother, Umayr. So, he had a small bird, so they called him Numayr. So, his bird died. So, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) joked with this young child to kind of make him feel better. He said, "Ya Umayr, ma fa'ala Numayr?" You know, "What happened to your bird?" Like he would take that time to even speak to children in a kind manner. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would at times play with Hassan and Hussain (رضي الله عنهم). Even at times when he was making salah and they sat on his neck. Imagine today if some little kid comes and sits, you backhand them. We are mad nowadays. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) stayed in sujood. He didn't want to toss them off until they left themselves. Look at how kind he was. At times he raced with his wife Aisha (رضي الله عنها). Sahih hadith, Aisha (رضي الله عليه وسلم) said, when I first married the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), we raced. And I was able to beat him in the race. But then, as marriage and so on, she gained weight and things. He said, we raced, and imagine the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was older age, but he was that physically fit, he beat her in the race. So, he was having that entertainment with his wife, that bonding. But that's for a particular time.

There's always a balance.

Balance. But the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would never, and I'm going to go back to the hadith of Eyoub (عبد الله عليه وسلم) that said he helped around the house. He said, but when the Adhan happened, His face changed like he didn't know us. Meaning he never compromised on the deen. Because brothers nowadays, sometimes they get too soft. You're like, brother, let's go to the masjid. Nah, man, I'm trying to help my wife around the house. I'm holding the baby because she wants to go and learn some whatever, makeup class or something like that, right? Like, it's good to bond and help, but don't lose your Priorities. When it comes time for da'wah, it's time for da'wah. When the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) had to go out for qital or for da'wah or whatever, he never compromised that. Neither did the Sahaba (رَضِيَاهُمْ). It wasn't a choice then. The deen is a priority. But when you have your downtime, when you have done your responsibilities, to spend some time with your family for bonding, you know, for things like the the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did with Aisha (رَضِيَنْهَا), whether it's sports, whether it's some halal form of entertainment, even if some of it will be edgy in that sense, like the men playing, somebody could criticize that, but this is an exception. Like in Eid, when the little girls were playing the duff, Abu Bakr (رَضِيَنْهَا) got upset because he knew that musical instruments generally were haram. It's something known by the Sahaba, no doubt. But the duff of one particular type of drum, when there are celebrations, an exception to the general rule of Tahreem was made. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, it is their Eid, and it is the day of celebration, leave them. So at times that entertainment was permissible, but in its place. That doesn't mean now you bring the guitar and you make that halal, and you're sitting there, you know, listening to music concert with your family.

No.

Right? But it's Eid day, Take your children, go and play some sports with them and have some fun entertainment within the halal as best you can. Today, even if we take them to a mall, there's going to be some aspects of haram. I know, like I live in this world. I don't live in another world where I'm just going to give you dry advice, but minimize that as best you can.

Okay, so that's— you mentioned what not to do when it comes to avoiding doomscrolling and so forth. And making sure there's always a balance.

Yes.

Right. Now, what is it to do to stay productive and also spend some time on the deen?

First thing, schedule. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), as we went through this, had a schedule.

Always.

You know what time he woke up regularly, right? How he went for Fajr, what he did after Fajr, how he went for Dhuhr.

What's the best time for productivity?

After Fajr.

Always.

Or after, for me, right? Personally, I also work best at night. But that's like a personal thing, right? And like I said, many of the Imams of the past, they did as well. Ibn Taymiyyah and Abu Lahya and others were known to spend their nights in writing and collecting hadith and so on. And I find therefore personally, I focus at night. But when I used to study, for example, my schedule used to be like this. When I was in a Maraat, for example, before Fajr, I would go to the masjid. Early, before the Adhan, and I would sit with a particular Sheikh and revise my Quran with him and do whatever prayer and things, pray Fajr with him. Then with a separate Sheikh, who was the Imam of the Masjid, I would learn my new Quran lesson from there and sit with them till Ishaq. I used to have my sons with me. From Ishaq to Dhuhr, I used to have a break to spend time with my family. Come home, take your shower, help, go clean, whatever you got to do. From Dhuhr to Maghrib, I used to be with my Sheikh. So, I used to go study with Dr. Sadiq Al-Manna in his house, in his library. So, Dhuhr to Asr, we did Hadith. Asr to Maghrib, I'm sorry, Dhuhr to Asr, we did Fiqh. And Asr to Maghrib, we did Hadith. From Maghrib to Isha, I would take a break again. I would go home, spend time with the family, have dinner, and so on. After Isha, I used to have a Sheikh from Azhar, he used to come and teach me Arabic. So, we did grammar, Nahuwa Jirumia, Qatratun Na'ala, and so on.

When would you sleep?

So then after that dars, I would sleep until the— so meaning usually from around 11 PM to about 2, 3 AM would be my sleep time.

SubhanAllah.

That's it.

Very little.

And Friday was an off day. But Friday then I would go spend time with the Sheikh just to benefit from it.

MashaAllah. So we can see that from the Sunnah, the best time is in the mornings.

In the mornings.

And SubhanAllah, that's what we hear a lot when it comes to entrepreneurial advice. They say have a good morning routine and always start early in the morning. And those are non-Muslims. They say I'm productive in the morning, I'm fresh in the morning, they start fresh from work. We can see against Allah from the Sunnah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), starting early.

He made dua for this time, and Allah blessed this time for the Muslim ummah.

So the best time to work and be productive is after Fajr.

After Fajr. Okay, mind is fresh. Yeah, but get some sleep at night, don't oversleep.

So sleep after Isha.

Yes.

Then wake up before Fajr, pray.

Yes.

Then pray Fajr, get to work until Dhuhr. Then take a little nap.

Yes.

Like the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) used to do.

Beautiful.

20 minutes to an hour plus, depending on how tired you are. Then what would you do between Dhuhr and Asr after the nap?

Productivity again.

Okay.

This is your time to learn your Deen. Okay. Whether, like for me, I used to use even later when I was working. I used to work early. Any 6 AM, I used to be at work already. 3 PM, I was done. After that was my time to revise my Mutun, revise my Quran, do my personal research and so on. Then I would have my family time, dinner together, eat, joke, laugh. I homeschool my kids, so catch them up on their homework and so on. Then Maghrib to Isha was my masjid time. Maghrib I would go and stay until Isha, teaching, learning, revising, sitting, da'wah, shura, and so on. After Isha, come home, whatever, sit with the family a few minutes, go straight to sleep.

Very good. So we can see from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), we mentioned, Wake up before Fajr, pray Qiyamul-Layl, pray Fajr, then get to start being productive, pray Dhuhr, get a little break, get a nap, get back to work, be productive again, whether that's deen or, you know, amal ul-dunya if you're working. Then at Asr, what do you do between Asr and Maghrib?

So again, this is a time that you can utilize for being with your family, for catching up on things that you need to get done.

Running errands if you need to buy some things. Sure.

And then Maghrib to Isha, try to spend that time for the sake of Allah (SWT), what you have to do, masjid, so on. And then you can delay Isha. I mean, of course, because we pray in the Jama'ah, whatever time the masjid prays, prays. But if you have control over it, pray it later. So you get everything done— food, eating, family— before Isha. You pray Isha, go to sleep. Very good.

And that's the routine of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

Generally, like you said.

Yeah, of course there's exceptions, but that's the main routine he would follow. Is that the routine the companions would follow as well?

Yes. This is a general routine of the Sahaba (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ). And again, there are situations that come up and so on. You need to be flexible on that. But regularly, you should have a routine. And I'm going to speak to you directly here. If you're sleeping 10 hours a day, what is wrong with you? Why do you need 10 hours of sleep? Look, personally, if you sleep, in my opinion, and again, this is just a personal opinion, if you sleep more than 6 hours, you're wasting your life.

Really?

More than 6 hours, you're excessive in your sleep. Personally, I'm not a doctor. It's personal nasiha. Get 4 to 6 hours of sleep. Couple that with the qaylula nap, you're good.

Very good. And one advice that people mention, and I would almost also mention, is the sleeping time is important on your recovery. We see that Prophet (pbuh) was sleeping after Isha. The scientists who made research and said that the sleep you would get on the early part of the night is better for your recovery than the sleep you get later during the night. Which means, if you would take today's time, before Isha, usually Isha is around 7, 8, or 9 PM, that sleep from 9 PM to midnight will give you more recovery than the midnight to 3 AM.

I've read a research which said the sleep of night is twice the benefit of your daytime sleep.

Yes, subhanallah. So you can see, as if you mentioned you sleep 6 hours, but that's early. Let's say you sleep 9 PM to 3 AM, that's your 6 hours. You get a lot of productive sleep, right? And then you pray Qiyamul-Layl, you start your day, have a little Qaylullah. Your day is so much longer. Like, so think about it, imagine the barakah you can have if you wake up at 3, 4 AM and you feel fresh. Imagine how much you can achieve until Dhuhr. That's 10 hours. You can have 10 hours of productivity and it's just Dhuhr time. Imagine this. Then you pray, take a nap. You had a whole day of work, 10 hours. That's a complete day of work plus a nap, and it's not even Asr time yet. Imagine how much you can achieve. And then you get to work again, help your family. It's Asr time, carry on with the dunya and working on certain things. It's Maghrib time, spend some time on your deen, learn about the deen. It's Isha time, time to go back to your family, go back home, sleep. Imagine the amazing day you had, and then you go to sleep Wake up again the next day. So much productivity is found.

It is beautiful. Look, if you're not getting at least 2 to 4 hours of sleep, you might be kind of harming yourself. So I'm just saying as a public safety PSA here, get 4 to 6 hours, you're good. But if you're sleeping 10, like I talked to a brother the other day, he said he sleeps 12 hours a day. That's half the day. I don't know what you're doing with your life.

That means he spends, do you realize that means he spends 15 days a month?

Imagine half of his life is just sleeping. And then the bathroom, and then, you know, whatever. You can't waste life. You got a short life. You have to get accomplished things. Get motivated, get ready, get productive. If you're not being productive every day, every moment of your life, you're wasting the most valuable asset you have.

And on the last tip, I leave people with this. A lot of people struggle when it comes to how to schedule their day and how to make sure the day stays productive when it comes to balancing deen and dunya. And we subconsciously, subhanallah, mentioned it here. One of the best advice I received, and I had, and alhamdulillah, till this day I implement, is scheduling your work around your prayers.

Yes.

So you take your calendar, it's empty. The first thing you slot in there is your prayers.

Yes.

Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha. That's the first thing you put in there, and you put your work around it. When I started doing this, number one, everything was so much more structured because the time of the prayers makes sense. There's the time when the sun rises, that is time when the sun sets, etc. And we can see, subhanAllah, that's how the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was running his day.

Yes.

And from that, you always have your routine, you never miss your prayer, and you always have a structure, subhanAllah.

You know, I had a non-Muslim economics professor, and this was at Mesa College in San Diego. And one time, I used to wear a thobe to school, so I mean, you know, he knew I was very visibly Muslim. And, you know, he said something a few times, but one thing, it's very interesting. One day he was talking about economics and time management and growing your wealth and so on. And he said, you know what? One of the best examples I've ever seen. He said, I used to live in Saudi Arabia. He used to be a professor in Saudi. He was not Muslim. And he said, you know, the Saudi people, they have already an amazing schedule laid out from their prayers.

Subhanallah.

He said, you know, that's coming from a non-Muslim. From a non-Muslim. He said, I would be sitting in meetings and they would say, after Fajr, we are going to do this, after Asr. And he would be like, what is that? And he said, there were 5 reminders every day to be on schedule. He was thinking about the Adhan being like, he is like, okay, if I would tell my shahudi, any co-worker, and he would say, I want to get this done by Asr. If he heard the Adhan for Asr, he would realize that he has not gotten his task done. And you'd get on point. He was like, he goes, you know, they get these 5 calendar reminders out on speakers every day. And I was like, he's talking about the adhan, you know. SubhanAllah. So it's beautiful to schedule your day around salawat.

SubhanAllah. That's amazing. So if you want to be the most productive, who else than the best human on earth to take example on? The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would start his day before Fajr by praying, then pray Fajr, then straight away get to be productive. And he was productive up until Dhuhr, pray Dhuhr, take a little nap, rest, then get back to being productive until Asr, pray again, get back to being productive, pray Maghrib. Between Maghrib and Isha, he would spend time focusing on the deen. Then he would delay Isha up until the first third of the night. Then he would pray and straight away go back to sleep after Isha. He wouldn't like to speak after Isha. And that's the best routine you can have, the routine of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). So if you want to be a productive entrepreneur, take example on the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and the companions. Follow his routine and be productive. BarakAllahu fikum for watching the episode. Keep watching the series. May Allah bless you. Assalamualaikum.