Sleep invalidates wudoo’ if it is deep

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. 

What this means is that wakefulness is the string that ties
the anal sphincter, i.e. it keeps what is inside from coming out, because so
long as a person is awake he can feel what comes out, but when he sleeps the
string is loosened. 

Al-Teebi said: When a person is awake, he keeps control of
what is in his stomach but when he sleeps he loses that control and his
muscles relax. End quote from ‘Awn al-Ma’bood. 

If a person cannot
control his sphincter in the sense that if he breaks his wudoo’ he cannot
feel it, then his sleep invalidates wudoo’, otherwise it does not.  

See: al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 1/275 

Al-San’aani said in Subul al-Salaam (1/97): 

The most likely to be
correct is the view that sleep invalidates wudoo’, because of the hadeeth of
Safwaan… but the word nawm (sleep) in his hadeeth is general in meaning, and
there is the hadeeth of Anas which speaks of the sleep of the Sahaabah and
says that they did not do wudoo’ even if they snored, and that they used to
lie on their sides, and that they would be woken up. The basic principle is
that they are people of integrity and that they were not unaware of what
invalidates wudoo’, especially since Anas narrated this from the Sahaabah in
general, and it is well known that among them were knowledgeable men who had
deep knowledge of the religion, especially the prayer which is the greatest
pillar of Islam, and especially those among them who used to wait to pray
with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). They were
the elite of the Sahaabah, and as that is the case, the general wording of
the hadeeth of Safwaan is to be taken as referring to deep sleep only, in
which a person is no longer aware, and what Anas said about snoring, lying
on their sides and being woken up is to be understood as referring to sleep
that was not deep, because a person may snore at the beginning of sleep,
before sleep has become deep, and lying one one’s side does not necessarily
mean that one is sleeping deeply. End quote. 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in
Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, when listing the things that invalidate
wudoo’: 

A great deal of sleep
means if it is such that the sleeper does not feel it if he breaks his
wudoo’. But if the sleep is light and the sleeper can feel it if he breaks
his wudoo’, then sleep does not invalidate wudoo’. It makes no difference if
the sleeper is lying down, sitting leaning on something or sitting without
leaning. What matters is the level of awareness. If it is such that he will
feel it if he breaks his wudoo’, then his wudoo’ is not invalidated by
sleep. If he is in a state where he would not feel it if he breaks his
wudoo’, then he must do wudoo’, because sleep itself does not invalidate
wudoo’, rather there is the probability that one has broken one’s wudoo’
when sleeping. But if one is still aware and can be certain that he has not
broken his wudoo’ because he can feel it if it happens, then sleep does not
invalidate his wudoo’. The evidence that sleep itself does not invalidate
wudoo’ is the fact that light sleep does not invalidate wudoo’. If sleep did
invalidate wudoo’ then a little or a lot of it would do so, just as a little
or a lot of urine invalidates wudoo’. End quote. 

Similarly in Fataawa Ibn Baaz (10/144) it says: 

Sleep invalidates wudoo’ if it is so deep that one is no
longer aware, because the great Sahaabi Safwaan ibn ‘Assaal al-Muraadi (may
Allaah be pleased with him) 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-Nasaa’i and al-Tirmidhi; classed as saheeh by Ibn Khuzaymah. 

And Mu’aawiyah (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated that
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The eye
is the string that ties the anal sphincter; when the eyes sleep, the string
is loosened.” Narrated by Ahmad and al-Tabaraani. Its isnaad contains some
weakness, but there are corroborating reports that support it, such as the
hadeeth of Safwaan mentioned above, thus it is counted as a hasan hadeeth.
As for feeling drowsy, this does not invalidate wudoo’ because it does not
cause loss of awareness. Thus the ahaadeeth that have been narrated on this
topic can be reconciled. End quote. 

The scholars of the Standing Committee said: 

Deep sleep may lead to
breaking of wudoo’, so whoever sleeps deeply in the mosque or elsewhere has
to repeat his wudoo’, whether he was standing, sitting or lying down, and
whether he has a masbahah in his hand or not. But if the sleep is not deep,
such as dozing off, in which one does not lose awareness, he does not have
to repeat his wudoo’, because of the saheeh ahaadeeth which have been
narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
concerning that, as mentioned above. End quote. 

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah,
5/262 

And they also said: 

Light sleep in which one
does not lose consciousness does not invalidate wudoo’. It was narrated that
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to delay
‘Isha’ prayer on some occasions, until the heads of the companions of the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would
droop, then they would pray and would not do wudoo’. End quote. 

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah,
5/263 

See al-Majmoo’, 2/14-24; Mawaahib al-Jaleel,
1/312; al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 2/189-191.