Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
My husband has to get up very early in the morning to go to work (4:30 a.m.) and likes to go to sleep no later than 9 p.m. these days, maghrib isn’t until 8:45 p.m. in our area and then isha is around 10:15 p.m. or so. my husband was wondering if it would be acceptable for him to go to sleep immediately after maghrib and then wake up around midnight to pray isha so that he can get in an extra couple of hours of sleep…?
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
There is nothing wrong with sleeping before praying Isha if one is sure to wake up.
Imam Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) quotes the Hanafi hadith master and jurist, Abu Ja`far al-Tahawi (Allah have mercy on him) as saying,
“It is only disliked to sleep before Isha if one fears missing its time, or missing the congregation. As for one who has [f: taken the means to wake up, such as] arranged with another person to wake them up, it is permitted for them to sleep before Isha.” [Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Salat]
And Allah alone gives success.
Faraz Rabbani.