Is there a hadith meaning "he who wakes up as junub (having had a wet dream) should break his fast"? If there is, is the fasting of such a person invalidated?

The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

It will be useful to summarize the issue in a few items:

There are two narrations from Abu Hurayra regarding the issue:

1. The hadith that Tirmidhi reports is mawquf; It is Abu Hurayra’s own fatwa. He gave up that fatwa afterwards. (see Tuhfatul-Ahwadhi, the explanation of the hadith in question)

2. In a hadith that Tirmidhi narrates and qualifies as “hasan-sahih”, the Prophet’s wives Hz. Aisha and Hz. Umm Salama state the following:

“The Prophet (pbuh) sometimes went to bed with one of his wives and woke up in the morning as junub; then, he would have a bath and continue fasting." (Tirmidhi, Sawm,63; see also Bukhari, Sawm, 22; Muslim, Siyam, 78).

3. That hadith is at the level of mutawatir and it is marfu. It has two loyal witnesses like Hz. Aisha and Hz. Umm Salama, who knew about the states of the Prophet. Therefore, it is stronger than the previous hadith.

According to what Ibnul-Mundhir states, Abu Hurayra’s hadith was abrogated. When Abu Hurayra found out that this hadith had been abrogated, he gave up his previous fatwa. (see Fathul-Bari; Tuhfatul-Ahwadhi, the explanation of the hadith in question).

4. According to Nawawi, there is consensus of scholars and agreement of the great majority of the Companions and Tabiun that the fasting of a person who wakes up as junub in the morning is not invalidated no matter what the reason is. (see Nawawi, the explanation of the hadith in question).

5. According to Tirmidhi, the view of the majority of scholars is in accordance with the hadith that this state does not harm fasting. (see Tuhfatul-Ahwadhi, the explanation of the hadith in question).

6. The second hadith about Abu Hurayra is the marfu hadith that Muslim narrated.

Abubakr narrates:

“I heard Abu Hurayra say, "He who wakes up as junub in the morning should not fast." I told Abdurrahman b. al-Harith about it. He did not accept it and started to walk. I went with him. We went to Hz. Aisha and Hz. Umm Salama. Abdurrahman told them about the issue. Thereupon, both of them said, "The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) sometimes went to bed with one of his wives and woke up in the morning as junub but continued fasting." Then, we went to Abu Hurayra and told him what Hz. Aisha and Hz. Umm Salama said. Thereupon, he said, "Did they really say so?" When Abdurrahman said, "Yes", he said, "They know better." (see Muslim, Siyam, 75).

It is understood from the explanations above that the fast of a person who wakes up in the morning as junub is not invalidated.

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