Does sleep invalidate the ablution? And what is the explanation for the action of the Companions, who used to sleep and then rise to pray?
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The questioner : There is a hadith in "Fiqh al-Sunnah" that we read a few days ago; the meaning of the hadith is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was delayed... and he began to speak; meaning, the iqamah was called and the speech occupied them until some of the Companions dozed off, and I do not remember if they slept or if some of them slept, and then they came and completed the prayer, meaning they prayed; so there was a period between the iqamah of the prayer and the performance of the prayer in which some people dozed off...
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Did this hadith pass by you?
The Shaykh : Yes, it did, this is an authentic hadith.
The questioner: Correct.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : ...they dozed off.
The Shaykh : The dozing is not the problem, the problem is sleep; because dozing does not invalidate the ablution, the problem is sleep.
The questioner : ...there is no detail that...
The Shaykh : I am telling you! If it is only dozing, there is no issue, dozing does not invalidate the ablution, what invalidates it is sleep, and indeed there are authentic hadiths that they not only slept but they lay down... until the sound of one of them was heard, and then they rose to the prayer... because you know that the rulings of the Shari'ah did not come all at once, but they came gradually, so they would sleep and even become heavy in sleep and rise to the prayer; this was the case, but the ruling settled later on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):Mishkat al-Masabih 315; and therefore he said: , so sleep is what settled as invalidating the ablution, and not dozing, but sleep was not an invalidator of the ablution in the early days of Islam except later, so if you find such an incident, attribute it to the initial ruling.
But here is a matter with precision; and that is: what is the criterion between sleep and dozing; because most people do not know this issue, although it is very important, between one who dozed and one who slept, the one who slept must renew the ablution, and the one who dozed does not have to renew the ablution? The best that has been said in this area is that dozing is that the dozer does not lose hearing of the sounds around him, but he loses consciousness and understanding, he is alert and hears that there is a sound but he is not awake enough to understand that speech, so if the sound is lost to him, he has slept, this is the one who must perform the ablution, this is the criterion and the difference between dozing and sleep.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Did this hadith pass by you?
The Shaykh : Yes, it did, this is an authentic hadith.
The questioner: Correct.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : ...they dozed off.
The Shaykh : The dozing is not the problem, the problem is sleep; because dozing does not invalidate the ablution, the problem is sleep.
The questioner : ...there is no detail that...
The Shaykh : I am telling you! If it is only dozing, there is no issue, dozing does not invalidate the ablution, what invalidates it is sleep, and indeed there are authentic hadiths that they not only slept but they lay down... until the sound of one of them was heard, and then they rose to the prayer... because you know that the rulings of the Shari'ah did not come all at once, but they came gradually, so they would sleep and even become heavy in sleep and rise to the prayer; this was the case, but the ruling settled later on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):
The eyes are the leather strap of the anus, and when the eye sleeps the leather strap is loosened
العينان وكاء السَّه ، فإذا نامت العينان انطلق الوكاءWhoever sleeps, let him perform ablution
من نام فليتوضَّأBut here is a matter with precision; and that is: what is the criterion between sleep and dozing; because most people do not know this issue, although it is very important, between one who dozed and one who slept, the one who slept must renew the ablution, and the one who dozed does not have to renew the ablution? The best that has been said in this area is that dozing is that the dozer does not lose hearing of the sounds around him, but he loses consciousness and understanding, he is alert and hears that there is a sound but he is not awake enough to understand that speech, so if the sound is lost to him, he has slept, this is the one who must perform the ablution, this is the criterion and the difference between dozing and sleep.
Source
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