It is established in the hadith that the Companions used to doze off and their heads would nod, and they would get up without performing wudu. It is also established in the hadith that he said, "My eyes sleep, but my heart does not sleep."

The questioner : Regarding the issue... It is established in the hadith of Anas that the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to doze off and their heads would nod, and they would get up and pray without performing wudu. Is there another hadith?

The Shaykh : I understood your question, but I did not understand how you are linking the second one to it. I hope you will tell me, just so I understand what the connection is between the second hadith and the first one, the saying of the Messenger . It has no relation to the question!

The questioner : ... Sleep... This is a characteristic of the Messenger, so his eyes would sleep, but his heart would not sleep.

The Shaykh : And this is correct.

The questioner : Regarding the second hadith... The Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) were such that when a man came and had a need, he would say, "Until the Companions of the Messenger doze off and get up for prayer without performing wudu." And in the other hadith, they were being woken up for prayer without performing wudu. Does this light doze break the wudu?

The Shaykh : ... Without me discussing it with you or becoming... Do you know the error in your question? I say, may Allah reward you with good, what is the connection between the hadith , which is a specific characteristic of the Messenger, and the Companions who used to sleep and doze off in their sleep, then get up and pray? This hadith is our answer, but who linked it to the second hadith?

The questioner : ... In these books, they use the second hadith as evidence...

The Shaykh : No, absolutely not. No one brings up the second hadith, my brother. The second hadith has no relation to the matter you are asking about. There are authentic hadiths in al-Bukhari and Muslim and others; in fact, it is famous and is one of the specific characteristics of the Messenger: he would sleep at night and doze off at night, and when he woke up, he would pray immediately. So he said . The matter is finished. What is its relation to this hadith which has a relation to this hadith? I think there has been a confusion in the matter. The hadith ...
As for the hadith you are asking about, it is the hadith of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Companions of the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) used to sleep lying down until they would doze off in their sleep. This is undoubtedly a valid hadith as well, and it contradicts the hadith , and the hadith I mentioned earlier . As for the hadith "My eyes sleep, but my heart does not sleep," it has no relation to this matter.
The answer can be understood from the previous wording when we spoke about the images and the images of clay, and we said that when the statement contradicts the action, the statement is given precedence over the action. And we said that when a prohibitive factor (a barrier) and a permissive factor contradict each other, the present prohibitive factor is given precedence over the permissive one. Now apply the two rules, and you will find the answer automatically!

The questioner : He performs wudu.

The Shaykh : He performs wudu, without a doubt, because we said that it is established that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did something, and then it is established from his words that it is the opposite, so his words are given precedence. Here, it is not the Messenger; rather, the Companions were sleeping and getting deep sleep, dozing off in their sleep, and getting up to pray. This was during the time of permissibility, before the legislation. So when the time of legislation came, they said . Without a doubt, this is the new ruling. Their sleep and their dozing off in sleep before the legislation: whoever sleeps, let him perform wudu. This is what the student of knowledge derives from the scientific rules.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : No, this is not applicable, my brother!

The questioner : How do I know that this hadith is before the legislation or after the legislation?

The Shaykh : ... I did not claim that we know this is before and that is after, but this is necessary, as we said earlier... I said the rule: every hadith in which there is a prohibition of something, the prohibited thing is included under it... Before the prohibition of it, did this meaning pass by you or not... Okay, there is an earlier and a later one, and it is one hadith, but this one hadith, its explicit text is the prohibition of this thing, which is, for example, drinking while standing. Its implicit meaning is that if this thing was permissible... Clear!

The questioner : The revelation was descending upon the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in this time... In this process, the Companions used to sleep and then get up for prayer and pray without purity!

The Shaykh : My dear, in this case, at this time, it was valid... In this case, their prayer was valid. And I will tell you a story better than this: When the Companions migrated to Abyssinia, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud came and met the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) while he was praying. He said, "Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah," but he did not return the greeting. He said, "So he took from me what was near and what was far" — meaning, in his mind, what did I do with the Messenger? When the Messenger (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) finished the prayer, he said .
This is also an example of what I said earlier. Now, this hadith prohibits talking in prayer, but implicitly, its meaning is that before that, it was not prohibited. And he laughed. How did he take from him what was near and what was far? So when they migrated, they used to greet the Messenger in prayer, and he would return their greetings. If someone did that today, we would say his prayer is invalid by the explicit text of the hadith of the Messenger... So this is proof that before the migration to Abyssinia, one of them would talk to his companion in prayer, especially with the greeting, and receive the return of the greeting with words. "And upon you be peace." So when Ibn Mas'ud was surprised by this deprivation from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) — the non-return of the greeting — the matter became difficult for him, and he went back to thinking that he had done something wrong with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and he was thinking... and searching for the old calculations, as they say, what did he do with the Messenger... He did not do anything, but there is a new ruling. He was not... He said . And in the authentic Sunnah, a man used to come to the mosque and stand in prayer. "How many rak'ahs, my brother?" he would say, and he would say, "The second," and he would pray... Then, after a period, Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) entered the mosque and the Messenger was in prayer. "Allahu Akbar." He did what he did, so he said now .
So here, the rule gives you a jurisprudence that saves you from reading volumes, because when you know this hadith and its features, and you know the rule, you do not need to ask Shaykh So-and-So and Professor So-and-So at all. You will be a jurist with this, and this is the intended meaning of his saying (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) . This is the jurisprudence.