QA-ID-0074
QUESTION
If someone is sitting with their backside firmly placed on the ground, whilst leaning, such that were the thing he was leaning on to be removed he would fall, and he falls asleep, does the wudu break? For example someone sleeping whilst a passenger in a car.
ANSWER
﷽
The general ruling is that sleeping invalidates wudū unless a person is sitting in a position where the buttocks are firmly placed, and they are not in a posture that would lead to deep sleep. For example, if someone is seated with their buttocks securely on the ground, a chair, or a bench, and their feet are stretched to one side, their wudū remains intact.
As such, sleeping while sitting on a seat with your buttocks firmly on the seat does not break wudū, even if you are leaning on something that, if removed, would cause you to fall. As long as your buttocks stay firmly in place throughout, wudū is not invalidated. Although some Hanafī texts, like al-Hidāyah, mention that wudu is broken in such a case, the stronger opinion is that wudū remains valid. This is the relied upon position in the Hanafī school.
(See Radd al-Muhtār 1/141; al-Fatāwā al-Ridawiyyah 1/489)
والله تعالى أعلم
And Allāh Knows Best
Muhammad Kalim Misbahi
