Islamic bedtime audio: lullabies, du'as and quiet stories

Bedtime is when a lot of families already do something for their children's deen. There's a du'a, maybe a short surah, a few words about Allah before the light goes off. It's also when the grown-ups are most tired. Audio can carry some of that, as long as it's calm enough to send a child towards sleep rather than away from it.

What makes audio work at bedtime

Slow, soft voices help, and so does knowing what's coming. A story full of sound effects can be great in the afternoon and too lively at eight o'clock. A story that stops on a cliffhanger keeps a child awake asking for the next one. The best bedtime audio is a little bit predictable, and that's fine. A child who has heard the same lullaby every night for weeks learns that it means sleep is close.

Length matters too. Something that ends after ten or fifteen minutes means you aren't going back in to switch it off. If it doesn't, the sleep timer in the Yoto app turns the audio off after the time you choose. We cover where to find it in setting up a new Yoto for Qur'an and du'as.

Lullabies, voices only

Bedtime Lullabies by Abdullah Qureshi is three tracks, Allahumma Bismika, La Ilaha Illallah and Allahumma Salli Ala Muhammad, about 17 minutes together. They get longer as they go, and the last runs to over eight minutes. It's listed from birth to six, so a baby and an older sibling can share it.

Like everything we list, it has no instruments. Lullabies are where a soft backing track is easiest to miss, so we listen to each one all the way through before it goes on the site.

Du'as before sleep

Many families say a du'a with their children before sleep, and audio works best here next to you rather than in place of you. Saying it together, then putting a card on, gives the routine a clear end: du'a, card, lights off. A child who hears you say it every night will often start saying it with you.

If you'd like a du'a card your child can put on themselves, a Make Your Own card is the way to do it. You can record yourself saying it, or a grandparent, which a lot of children love hearing. Our family guide to Make Your Own cards starts with exactly that.

Short stories for winding down

From about three, a short story can take the place of the lullaby. Islamic Bedtime Stories by Safar Productions tells the stories of Prophet Adam, Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Nuh, peace be upon them, in eight short parts. Most are two or three minutes long, so one or two a night is enough, and a child gets to look forward to the next part tomorrow rather than asking for it now.

Both cards are checked against our standard and go into your Yoto library in one tap, free. We're adding more calm listening to lullabies as we find it, so that's the place to look for the next one.