Malamai sun sami sabani game da barci, inda suka bayyana ra'ayoyi uku. Wani rukuni na malamai sun yi ra'ayin cewa barci yana daga cikin abubuwan da ke karya alwala, don haka sai an yi alwala bayan barci, ko gajere ne ko doguwa. Wani rukuni kuma sun ce ba haka yake ba, don haka ba sa wajabta alwala bayan barci, sai dai idan mutum ya tabbata cewa ya samu hadath, bisa ga ra'ayin wadanda ba sa yarda da shakka, ko kuma idan yana cikin shakka cewa ya samu hadath, bisa ga ra'ayin wadanda suke ganin shakka tana da tasiri. Wasu daga cikin magabata sun kasance suna nada wani mutum da zai rika lura da halinsu yayin barci, wato ko sun samu hadath. Wani rukuni kuma sun bambanta tsakanin barci mai sauki da gajere da kuma barci mai zurfi da tsawo. Sun wajabta alwala bayan barci mai zurfi, amma ba bayan barci mai sauki ba. Wannan ra'ayi malaman fiqhu na yankuna da mafi yawan malamai ne suke goyon bayansa. Kamar yadda wasu yanayin jiki ke sauwaka zurfin barci da kuma fitar da abubuwan da ke karya alwala fiye da sauran yanayi, malamai sun sami sabani game da su. Malik ya ce mutumin da ya yi barci yana kwance a gefensa ko yana sujada dole ne ya yi alwala, ko barcin ya yi tsawo ko gajere, amma wanda ya yi barci yana zaune ba shi da wajibcin alwala, sai dai idan barcin ya yi tsawo sosai. Ra'ayinsa game da wanda ya yi barci yana ruku'u ya sha bamban. Sau daya ya ce hukuncinsa kamar na wanda yake tsaye yake, sau wata kuma ya ce hukuncinsa kamar na wanda yake sujada. Al-Shafi'i ya ce duk lokacin da mutum ya yi barci, duk irin yanayin da yake ciki, wajibi ne ya yi alwala, sai dai wanda ya yi barci yana zaune yana kwantsawa. Abu Hanifa da almajiran sa sun ce babu alwala ga mutumin da ya yi barci, sai dai wanda ya yi barci yana kwance a gefensa. Asasin rashin jituwa a tsakaninsu kan wannan batu shi ne karon da ke tsakanin hadisan da suka shafi haka. Akwai hadisai da ma’anarsu ta fili ke nuna cewa mutumin da ya yi barci ba ya bukatar alwala kwata-kwata, kamar hadisin Ibn Abbas, cewa: "Manzon Allah ﷺ ya shiga wajen Maymuna ya kwanta a wajenta har sai da ya ji yana numfashi. Sannan ya tashi ya yi sallah ba tare da yin alwala ba." Akwai kuma maganar Annabi ﷺ cewa: "Idan wani daga cikinku ya yi barci-barci a lokacin sallah, to ya kwanta har sai barcin ya tafi (sannan ya ci gaba da sallah). Domin yana iya zama yana nufin neman gafarar Ubangijinsa, amma sai ya yi kuskure ya zagi kansa." An kuma ruwaito cewa sahabbai na Annabi ﷺ suna yin barci-barci a masallaci har kawunansu su kan nutse, sannan su yi sallah ba tare da yin alwala ba. Duk wadannan hadisai ne ingantattu.
Haka nan akwai wasu hadisai da ma’anarsu ta fili ke nuna cewa barci nau’in hadathi ne. Mafi bayyanarsu shi ne hadisin Safwan ibn ‘Assal, inda ya ce: "Muna tafiya tare da Manzon Allah ﷺ sai ya umarce mu kada mu cire takalmanmu saboda shiga bayan gida, ko yin fitsari, ko barci, sai dai mu cire su idan akwai janaba." Don haka ya sanya fitsari, shiga bayan gida, da barci a matsayi guda. Al-Tirmidhi ya bayyana shi a matsayin sahihi. Daga cikin su kuma akwai hadisin Abu Hurairah da aka ambata a baya, wato maganar Annabi ﷺ: "Idan daya daga cikinku ya tashi daga barci, to ya wanke hannunsa kafin ya sa shi cikin ruwan (kwano)." Ma’anarsa ta fili ita ce barci yana wajabta alwala, ko gajere ne ko doguwa. Ma'anar zahirin ayar, a cewar waɗanda suke fitar da wannan ma'ana daga kalmomin Maɗaukaki, "Ya ku waɗanda suka yi imani! Idan kun tashi zuwa salla, ku wanke fuskokinku, da hannayenku har zuwa gwiwar hannu, ku shafi kawunanku, ku wanke ƙafafunku har zuwa idon sawu",53 wato, idan kun tashi daga barci, bisa abin da aka karɓo daga Zayd ibn Aslam da sauran magabata. Da yake ma'anonin zahirin dukkan waɗannan hadisai sun saɓa wa juna, sai malaman fiqhu suka yanke hukunci a kan batun bisa ɗaya daga cikin hanyoyi biyu: hanyar fifiko ko hanyar sasantawa. Waɗanda suka yi amfani da hanyar fifiko, ko dai sun kawar da wajabcin alwala bayan barci gaba ɗaya bisa ma'anar zahirin hadisan da suka kawar da ita, ko kuma sun wajabta ta koyaushe bayan barci, ko gajere ne ko dogo, bisa hadisan da suka wajabta ta, wato bisa hadisin wajabtawa da suka fifita, ko kuma bisa hadisin da ya kawar da ita. Waɗanda suka bi hanyar sasantawa kuwa, sun fassara hadisan da suke wajabta alwala cewa suna nufin barci mai tsawo, kuma sun fassara hadisan da suka kawar da alwala cewa suna nufin barci gajere. Wannan, kamar yadda muka faɗa, ita ce ra'ayin mafi yawan malamai, kuma sasantawa ta fi fifiko, muddin yana yiwuwa, a cewar masana usulul fiqhu. Al-Shafi'i ya fassara hadisai ta yadda zai keɓe, daga cikin yanayin mutumin da yake barci, yanayin zama kawai, saboda an tabbatar da wannan a matsayin ingantaccen rahoto game da Sahabbai, wato suna yin barci suna zaune, sannan su yi salla ba tare da yin alwala ba. Abu Hanifa ya sanya wajibcin alwala ne kawai bayan barci a lokacin da mutum ya kwanta a gefe, saboda an ruwaito wannan a cikin hadisi marfu'i, da kuma a cikin maganar Annabi ﷺ: "Alwala wajibi ce ga wanda ya yi barci yana kwance a gefe." An kuma kafa wannan ruwaya daga Umar.
Malik ya ce: Barci zai iya zama sanadin karyewar alwala ne kawai saboda yana sauƙaƙa fitowar abin da ke haifar da hadathi. Wajen kafa ra'ayinsa, Malik ya yi la'akari da abubuwa uku: cikar barcin (nutsuwa), tsawon lokaci, da yanayin jiki. Bai sanya sharadin tsawon lokaci ko cikar barci ga yanayin da yawanci ke sauƙaƙa faruwar hadathi ba, amma ya sanya su ga yanayin da yawanci ba sa sauƙaƙa hakan (kamar tsaye ko zaune).
The jurists disagreed about sleep, expressing three opinions. One group of jurists held the view that it is a factor of annulment, and made ablution obligatory after it whether it was for a short or for a long duration. Another group held that it is not so, and they did not make ablution obligatory after it, unless the person was convinced, in accordance with the opinion of those who do not acknowledge doubt, that he had acquired hadath*2 or when he was in a doubt that he had, in accordance with the opinion of those who consider doubt (as an effective factor). Some in the early generation used to depute a person to keep track of their state during sleep, that is, whether they had acquired hadath. Another group made a distinction between a light short sleep and a long deep sleep. They made ablution obligatory after a deep sleep, but not after light sleep. This is upheld by the fuqaha? of the regions, and by the majority. As some (bodily) positions facilitate deep sleep as well as discharge of annulling elements more than other positions, the jurists differed about them. Malik said that the person who sleeps reclining on his side or prostrate must perform ablution, whether the sleep was long or short, but one who sleeps in a sitting posture is under no obligation for ablution, unless such sleep becomes very long. His opinion about one (who sleeps while) bowing differed. He said once that his hukm is the same as that of the person standing, while he said another time that his hukm is that of the person prostrating. Al-ShafiT said that whenever a person sleeps, whatever his posture, he is obliged to perform ablution, except for the person dozing off while sitting. Abu Hanifa and his disciples said that there is no ablution for a person who sleeps, except for one sleeping on his side. The basis for disagreement among them on this issue is the conflict of the relevant traditions. There are traditions whose apparent meaning implies that there is no ablution at all for a person who goes to sleep, like the tradition of Ibn Abbas, “that the Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) visited Maymuna and went to sleep at her place till they could hear him breathing. He then arose and prayed without performing ablution”. There is the saying of the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) which is as follows: “If one of you dozes off during prayer, he should lie down till he is no longer sleepy (and then resume prayer). For it is possible that he intends to seek forgiveness of his Lord, but may err and slander himself’. It is also related that the Companions of the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to doze off in the mosque till their heads would sink low. They prayed after this without performing ablution. All these are established traditions. There are also others whose obvious meaning indicates that sleep is a form of hadath. The clearest of these is the tradition of Safwan ibn (Assal in which he said, “We were on a journey with the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) when he ordered us not to take off our boots because of a visit to the privy, urination, or sleep, and that we should take them off only in case of sexual defilement”. He thus held urination, visit to the privy, and sleep to be similar. It has been declared sahih by al-TirmidhT. Among these is also the preceding tradition of Abu Hurayra, which is the saying of the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him), “When one of you wakes up from sleep, he should wash his hand before putting it into the water (utensil)”. Its apparent meaning is that sleep necessitates ablution, whether it is short or long. Similarly, the apparent meaning of the verse of according to those who derive such a meaning from the words of the Exalted, “O ye who believe! When ye rise up for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands up to the elbows, and lightly rub your heads and (wash) your feet up to the ankles”,53 that is, when you arise from sleep, in accordance with what is related from Zayd ibn Aslam and other early authorities. As the apparent meanings of all these traditions were in conflict, the jurists decided the issue on the basis of one of two methods: the method of preference Or the method of reconciliation. Those who applied the method of preference, either dropped the obligation of ablution after sleep completely on the basis of the apparent meaning of the traditions that drop it, or imposed it always after sleep, whether short or prolonged, on the basis of traditions that impose it, that is, in accordance with the prescribing tradition that was preferred by them Or in accordance with the tradition that dropped it. Those who adopted the Method of reconciliation interpreted the traditions prescribing ablution to a Pply to extended sleep, and interpreted the traditions waiving ablution to a PpIy to a short sleep. This, as we have saidj is the opinion of the majority, and ^conciliation is better than preference, as far as it is possible, according to ° experts on usul al-fiqh. Al-ShafiT interpreted the traditions so as to exempt, from among the positions of the person sleeping, the sitting posture alone, as this was established to be an authentic report about the Companions, that is, they used to sleep while sitting and then prayed without performing ablution. Abu HanTfa made it obligatory only after sleep while reclining on the side, as this has been stated in a marfiF tradition, and in a saying of the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him): “Ablution is obligatory on one who sleeps reclining on one side”. The narration has been established from TJmar. Malik said: Since sleeping can be a cause of annulment of ablution only on account of the fact that it makes easy the release of the cause of hadath. In forming his views, Malik took into account three things: soundness, duration, and posture. He did not stipulate either duration or soundness for a posture that usually facilitates the occurrence of hadath^ but he did do so for postures that normally do not do so (like standing or sitting).