Everyday Life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

Morning

The Prophet pbuh’s everyday life begins before the sun rises every morning. Upon hearing the Subuh azan,he would perform a sunnah prayer at home. Then, he would make his way to the mosque to lead the Subuh prayer.

After the prayer,the Prophet pbuh would recite zikirs appropriate for that particular time of the day. Only later,would he turned to the Companions and talked to them. The topic of discussion ranges from complex questions about the Faith to the solving the daily problems of the Companion. We can easily see here how the Prophet had formed a Circle of Worship followed by the Circle of Knowledge and Culture so early in the morning. This ensures that a Muslim’s life begins not only with the act of worship, but also the opportunity to gain more knowledge.

Once he had performed the Dhuha prayer, the Prophet pbuh would then head home. He would ask his wife what is for breakfast. His usual breakfast consisted of humble food like milk, dates and a few slices of barley bread. However, if no food is available at home, he would simply say “I’ll be fasting today”. We can point out how patient and understanding the Prophet pbuh was. He never made a demand for better food to be served. He didn’t even complain if there wasn’t any food served.

He will then have a short nap whilst waiting for the Zuhur prayer.

Noon

Again, the Prophet would head the Zuhur prayer. If it was a Friday, the solat will be celebrated with joy, like a holiday. The Companions will come to the mosque much earlier than usual. Nails would be cut, a bath taken, new clothing put on, fragrances rubbed on. Even the women and children would attend the prayer. The Prophet would then deliver a sermon and they would later pray.

The Prophet did not usually have an afternoon meal. Actually, an afternoon meal is not mentioned regularly in reference sources. It is safe to say that the Prophet only had 2 meals every day -a morning and an evening meal.

Occasionally, Prophet Muhammad would visit the Companions, undertake daily tasks, see to issues of interest to the public as ruler, dictate revealed verses to scribes of revelation, inform the people of urgent commands by means of proclamation and attend to guests. For example, after the eighth year of the migration, there was heavy visiting by ambassadors. Part of the day passed in meeting and hosting them, answering their questions and requests and seeing them off.

Afternoon

The Prophet put a strong emphasis on the importance of the Asar prayer. This is because during the Asar prayer,the changing of the guard of the night and day Angels occur. As such, the zikir after the prayer would always be made longer.

There was a custom the Prophet usually kept: He would visit his wives after every afternoon prayer and ask how they were and what their needs were. In these customary visits his wives would offer the Prophet whatever they had with them.

Evening

The Prophet often began to wait for the evening prayer before the sun set, and as soon as the azan was recited, he would immediately stand before Allah. After the Maghrib salat, he would pray 2-6 rakaats of the Awwabin salat.

After the evening prayer the Prophet would gather his family together in the home of whichever wife he was going to spend the night with, and he would begin a family talk.

Night

The Prophet would lead his Companions in the night prayer and, if there was no other important situation, he would retire to rest without speaking to anyone. Before he slept, he would pray.

Aisha relates the prayer and practice of the Prophet before he went to sleep: "Every night when the Prophet went to bed, he would join both hands, blow onto them, and recite Ihlas, Falak and Nas surahs; then he would touch every part of his body that he could reach, beginning with his head, and he would repeat this three times.

Late night

The last portion of the Prophet Muhammad's day, nighttime, was passed with a great deal of worship. As narrated by his wife, Aisha:

"Our Prophet would pray at night until his feet were swollen. When it was said, ‘Hey, Messenger of Allah! Allah has forgiven your past and future sins. Why do you force yourself to worship so much in spite of this?' he would answer, ‘Should I not be a grateful servant for this blessing of Allah?'"

Prophet Muhammad would rest a while after the tahajud prayer and get up for the morning-prayer at the call of the muezzin. Bilal would call the adhan before imsak, thus waking people for both suhoor and tahajud. Abdullah ibn Ummi Maktum would make the call to prayer when imsak began, indicating that the time for morning-prayer had begun.