Is a person legally accountable for prohibited acts committed while sleeping?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Ḥudūd (Prescribed Penalties)
Primary text
The pen of accountability is lifted from the sleeper. Therefore, if a sleeping person commits *zina* (fornication or adultery), or if a woman engages with a sleeping man such that *zina* occurs, no *hadd* (prescribed legal punishment) is incumbent upon the sleeper. This is because accountability is removed from him.