For people suffering from insomnia, there is a soup to drink before sleeping, made with talbina (barley), milk, half a teaspoon of olive oil and half a teaspoon of black seed oil. There is also valerian, which was widely used by the Arabs, and which is one of the best plants to help people suffering from insomnia. Today it is found in capsule form.
What the science says: sleep
What published research says about the remedies mentioned above, for context — the studies look at material causes, while healing belongs to Allah.
Sleep
Improving sleep improves mental health as a whole, according to a meta-analysis of randomized trials (Sleep Med Rev, 2021); sleep hygiene (regular schedules, darkness, no screens or coffee in the evening) has a measurable effect on insomnia (Fam Pract, 2018) (Sleep Med Rev, 2025). The Sunnah adds its own guidelines: sleeping early, lying on the right side, after the bedtime supplications. Precaution: insomnia lasting more than three months, snoring with breathing pauses, or significant daytime sleepiness should be looked into by a doctor.
