74 – It is related from Muʿāwiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The eye is the tie of the sah (anal orifice). When a person’s two eyes sleep, the tie is loosened.” It was recorded by Aḥmad and al-Ṭabarānī, who added the words: “Whoever falls asleep must perform ablution.” The same addition appears in Abū Dāwūd’s version transmitted from ʿAlī, though without the phrase “the tie is loosened,” and both isnāds are weak.⦗1⦘

Abū Dāwūd also reports, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, a marfūʿ narration: “Ablution is required only of the one who sleeps lying down,” and its chain is likewise weak.⦗2⦘

Hadith grading:
• The report of ʿAlī is ḥasan.
• As for the report of Muʿāwiyah, it was narrated by Aḥmad, al-Ṭabarānī, and al-Dāraqutnī; its chain contains Baqiyyah from Abū Bakr ibn Abī Maryam, who is weak, and whose memory became confused after his house was robbed.
• The report of ʿAlī was transmitted by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah, and al-Dāraqutnī. In its chain is al-Waḍīn ibn ʿAṭāʾ—he is weak—reporting from Maḥfūẓ ibn ʿAlqamah, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿĀʾidh, from ʿAlī. Abū Zurʿah said, “He did not hear from him.” Al-Ḥāfiẓ commented, “There is room for discussion in this negation, for he narrates from ʿUmar, as al-Bukhārī affirms.” Ibn Abī Ḥātim relates: “I asked my father about these two hadiths, and he replied, ‘Neither of them is strong.’” Imām Aḥmad said, “The hadith of ʿAlī is firmer than that of Muʿāwiyah.”
• The hadith of ʿAlī was graded ḥasan by al-Mundhirī, Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, and al-Nawawī.
• As for the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbās, it was declared weak by al-Bukhārī, Aḥmad, and al-Tirmidhī, who said