#Quran_5_6

Sleep invalidates wudoo’ if it is deep
What is the evidence that sleep invalidates wudoo’?.

Praise be to Allaah.
With regard to the evidence that sleep invalidates wudoo’, that is proven by the hadeeth of Safwaan ibn ‘Assaal (may Allaah be pleased with him) in al-Sunan. He said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to command us, if we were travelling, not to take off our khufoof for three days and nights, except in the case of janaabah, but not in the case of stools, urine or sleep. Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 89; classed as hasan by al-Albaani. So he mentioned sleep as one of the things that invalidate wudoo’.

The scholars (may Allaah have mercy on them) differed as to whether sleep invalidates wudoo’ or not, and there are several points of view, including the following:

1 – That all kinds of sleep invalidate wudoo’, whether it is a little or a lot, no matter in what position one sleeps. This is the view of Ishaaq, al-Muzani, al-Hasan al-Basri and Ibn al-Mundhir, because of the hadeeth of Safwaan ibn ‘Assaal (may Allaah be pleased with him) quoted above, where he mentioned sleep as one of the things that invalidate wudoo’, and did not define it any further.

2 – That sleep does not invalidate wudoo’ in all cases, because of the hadeeth of Anas ibn Maalik, according to which the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) used to wait for ‘Isha’ at the time of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) until their heads drooped, then they prayed and they did not do wudoo’. Narrated by Muslim, 376. According to the report of al-Bazzaar: they would lie on their sides.

This is the view of Abu Moosa al-Ash’ari (may Allaah be pleased with him) and Sa’eed ibn al-Musayyib.

These two views are opposite, and each of them is based on a part of the evidence. However the majority of scholars reconciled this evidence and said that sleep invalidates wudoo’ in certain circumstances and not in others, although they differed in the way in which they reconciled between the evidence.

3 – If a person sleeps sitting with his backside firmly on the ground, it does not invalidate wudoo’, and if his backside is not firmly on the ground, it does invalidate wudoo’, regardless of what position he is in. This is the view of the Hanafis and Shaafa’is.

Al-Majmoo’, 2/14

4 – Sleep invalidates wudoo’ except light sleep in the case of one who is sitting or standing. This is the view of the Hanbalis. See al-Insaaf, 2/20, 25

The reason why an exception is made in the case of light sleep of one who is sitting or standing is that in this case the place where wind is emitted will be joined together and in this case one may think it most likely that he has not broken his wudoo’.

5 – Some of them said: a great deal of sleep invalidates wudoo’ whatever the case, unlike a little sleep. This is the view of Maalik and was narrated in one report from Ahmad.

The difference between a great deal of sleep and a little is that a great deal of sleep is deep sleep in which a person does not feel that he has broken his wudoo’ if that takes place. A little sleep is that in which a person does feel that he has broken his wudoo’ if that takes place, such as passing wind.

This view is the one favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him), and among our contemporary scholars it was the view favoured by Shaykh Ibn Baaz, Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen and the scholars of the Standing Committee, and it is the correct view. This view reconciles all the evidence, for the hadeeth of Safwaan ibn ‘Assaal indicates that sleep invalidates wudoo’ and the hadeeth of Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) indicates that it does not do so.

The hadeeth of Anas is to be interpreted as referring to light sleep in which a person can feel that he has broken his wudoo’ if that takes place, and the hadeeth of Safwaan is to be interpreted as referring to deep sleep in which a person does not feel if he breaks his wudoo’.

This is supported by the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “The eye is the string that ties the anal sphincter; when the eyes sleep, the string is loosened.” Narrated by Ahmad, 4/97; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 4148. 36889

#Follow_the_Sunnah_اتبع_السنة #Ismail_Danica