Assalamu Alaikum Ya Nesan!

You may have read media reports that warn you to stop using your smart phone, computer or LED television at least 2 hours before bed time. This is because the “blue light” emitted by these screens prevent our bodies from releasing Melatonin also known as “the sleep hormone”, which allows us to shut down and fall asleep. So if you have followed this advice and still have problems sleeping, there is one other culprit you may need to arrest.

CFL bulbs, LED bulbs and Fluorescent lamps also emit blue light. In our desperation to save electricity, these have entered our homes, and are everywhere. Check the packaging of your CFL and/or LED bulb, and if it says “Daylight” or “Cool White” it’s mainly giving out blue light. Fluorescent tubes are all blue light. So if you have one of these lamps lighting the space you occupy at night, you are getting a copious amount of Blue light, even without using any other electronic device.

Blue light is any light that has a blue tint to it. Sometimes the blueness is obvious, like in a disco light, or a neon sign. Sometimes the blue light is not so obvious, like in the white light your LED screen emits. Remember how white light is a mix of 7 colors of the rainbow? When all seven colors are mixed equally, the white light is neutral. However like your LED screen, the white light emitted by energy saving lamps do not have all colors in equal proportions, in fact it’s mostly in the blue indigo spectral range, with just enough red and green light, to make it appear white to our eyes.


Therefore confine fluorescent lights to the outdoors, like lighting up your porch. Use CFL and LED bulbs that say “Warm White” or “Soft White” indoors, especially in your bedroom, and any space you spend your time before sleep. In this way you can reap the energy saving benefits of these new bulb types while also getting a good night’s sleep.

If you are really serious about sleep, like Ibn Serendib is (as a matter of fact it is his favorite activity), invest in a lamp that emits colors in the Red, or Orange spectral range. This kind of light has negligible blue light in it, and the warmness of the light, can help you settle down and allow your body to open the gates on Melatonin, just as in our ancestors, who bathed in the warm glow of the orange sunset after Magharib, and by Isha time they were ready for sleep, with little effort.