During sleep, our souls depart from our bodies in an obscure manner. The soul of every sleeping person is held by Allah, and He then releases it when it is time to wake up. This is expressed by texts from both the Quran and the Sunnah.
Texts from the Quran
It is He who takes you (i.e., your souls) by night and knows what you do by day. Then He raises you in it (i.e., by day) until a specified term is fulfilled. Then to Him will be your return, and He will inform you what about you used to do. [Quran (6):60]
And Allah (Exalted is He) says:
Allah takes the souls at the time of their (owners') death, and (He also takes) those that (their owners) have not died yet ─ during their sleep. Then He keeps those for which He has decreed death and releases the others for a specified term. Indeed, in this are signs for those who reflect. [Quran (39):42]
Commenting on this ayah, al-Qurtubi (may Allah's mercy be upon him) said:
Allah (Exalted is He) takes away the soul at the end of a person's term, as well as those in sleep... Thus, He holds the soul for which death has arrived, and releases the soul until the time for death...
Ibn Abbas and others said, 'The souls of the living and of the dead meet during sleep and get acquainted as Allah wills. When they later wish to return to the bodies. Allah keeps with Him the souls of the dead, and sends the souls of the living back to their bodies.'...
Al-Qushayri Abu Nasr said, 'Allah takes the souls in the states of sleep and death. He then restricts the action of those in the states of sleep, and keeps those in the state of death until Resurrection Day.' ...
Allah takes the souls during sleep by (temporarily) removing their feelings and replacing perceptions with unawareness. And He takes them at death by completely removing perception. [Al-Jami li-Ahkam il-Quran 39:42]
Ibn Uthaymin (may Allah's mercy be upon Him) said:
When a person goes to sleep, Allah (Exalted is He) takes away his soul in a form of minor death during which the soul goes to wherever Allah wills. [Sharhu Riyadh is-Salihin no. 841]
Texts from the Sunnah
Among the sleep-time athkar (invocation) taught by the Prophet (peace be upon Him) is:
With Your Name, my Lord, I lay down my side, and be you (i.e., Your permission and help) I raise it. If you hold my soul (my death), show it mercy, and if You release it (i.e., keep it Alive) then protect it as you protect your righteous servants. [Recorded by al-Bukhari (6320, 7393), Muslim (2714) and others from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased be with Him)]
Similarly, the Prophet (peace be upon Him) recommended saying before going to sleep:
O Allah, You created my soul, and You take it away. You decide its (i.e, my) death and living. If You keep it alive, safeguard it, and if You make it die, forgive it. [Recorded by Muslim (2712) by Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased be with Him)]
And the Prophet (peace be upon Him) used to say when he woke up:
Praise be to Allah who resurrected us after He made us die. And to Him will be the (people's) emergence (from the graves). [Recorded by al-Bukhari (6312, 6314, 6324), Muslim (2710), and others from Huthayfah and al-Bara (may Allah be pleased be with them both)]
And the Prophet (peace be upon Him) recommended saying upon waking up:
Praise be to Allah who granted me well-being in my body, returned my soul to me, and permitted me to extoll Him. [Recorded by at-Tirmidhi, Ibn us-Sunni, and others from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased be with Him). Verified to be authentic by al-Albani (al-Kalam ut-Tayib nos. 34, 46)]
Conclusion
We learn from the above texts that sleep is a minor death in which the soul leaves the body by Allah's will and control. This was further confirmed by the Prophet (peace be upon Him) when he negated both forms of death for the people of Jannah. Jabir and Abdullah (may Allah be pleased be with them both) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon Him) said:
Sleep is the twin brother of death. And the people of Jannah do not sleep. [Recorded by Ibn Adiyy and Abu Nu'aym, and others. Verified by al-Albani (as-Sahihah no. 1087)]
During the "minor death", a soul gets to meet others souls of both living and dead people. Khuzamah Bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with Him) reported that he had a dream that he was prostrating upon the Prophet's (peace be upon him) forehead. When he told this to the Prophet (peace be upon him), the Prophet leaned back and said:
Indeed, a soul surely meets another soul (during sleep). Confirm your dream: sit and prostrate and do as you did in the dream. [Recorded by Ahmed. Ibn Shaybah, and others. Verified to be authentic by al-Albani (as-Sahihah no. 3262 and Hidayat ur-Ruwah no.4548)]
Seeing specific individuals during sleep normally means that Allah (Exalted is He) has created their resemblance in the dreamer's mind. However there are times when the dreamer's soul actually meets others souls of living or dead people. Its interaction with these souls may remain imprinted in the dreamer's mind after awakening. There is no indications that the other souls would remember the encounter, especially because the Prophet (peace be upon Him) did not indicate remembering encountering Khuzaymah' soul. The encounter of soul is an obscure matter of Ghayb (unseen), and cannot be subjected to our worldly standards.
Clarification
We should note that the above texts indicate that a person's soul travels very fast so as to meet other souls, and angels , etc. Even if he sleeps for just a brief moment, his soul is taken and then returned to his body during that moment. Since the soul and its actions are affairs of Ghayb which we discussed above that it cannot be subjected to laws of this world, the only correct approach is to accept and believe in all information about them that is based on authentic texts.
The Released Souls
We learned above that Allah (Exalted is He) sends the soul during the sleep on a mysterious journey that involves amazing visions and encounters. As for the souls whose term in this life has not yet ended. Allah (Exalted is He) sends them back into their bodies ─ which is demonstrated by awakening. These released souls may them relate some of what they experience during this journey.
In the future, if Allah will's we shall discuss Islamic guidelines and etiquette's relating to sleep. This includes evening, pre-sleep, and post-sleep, and post awakening guidelines and extollments. All of this should prepare a Muslim for a beneficial and rewarding sleep experience, and should allow him a chance to acquire rewards and attain comfort after awakening.
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