WHAT INVALIDATES THE PRAYER

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE MOST MERCIFUL

The prayer is the very first thing which we will be asked on the Day of Judgment.

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The first action for which a servant of Allah will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection will be his prayers. If they are in order, he will have prospered and succeeded. If they are lacking, he will have failed and lost. If there is something defective in his obligatory prayers, then the Almighty Lord will say: See if My servant has any voluntary prayers that can complete what is insufficient in his obligatory prayers. The rest of his deeds will be judged the same way.”

Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 413

Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Albani

Therefore we must be absolutely sure that our salah will be accepted by Allah and that will not be nullified or invalidated by our actions. Therefore, we must:

1. Seek knowledge
2. Correct ourselves if we find that our prayers may be invalid in the past
3. Do not follow the majority if the majority is wrong
4. Do not follow culture

So what are the things which will invalidate the prayers?

1. Anything which invalidates Wudu , such as breaking wind or eating camel meat. 

Issues that may have different opinions on wudu –

1. Touching opposite sex
   1. Bleeding
   1. Vomitting

2. What are the limits of the ‘awrah during prayer?

Uncovering the `Awrah deliberately. But if it is uncovered by accident and what is uncovered is only a little, or if a lot becomes uncovered he covers it immediately, then the prayer is not invalidated. 

3. Turning away from the Qiblah to a large extent. 

Some mosques in London refused to follow Qiblah because the angle will accommodate less people in the mosque. This invalidates the whole prayers every single time.

4. Presence of impurity on one’s body, clothes, or in the place where one is praying. If he notices it or remembers it during the prayer and removes it immediately, then his prayer is valid. Similarly, if he does not find out about it until after the prayer is over, his prayer is still valid. 

5. Excessive continuous movement during the prayer for no essential reason. 

6. Omitting one of the pillars (essential parts) of the prayer , such as bowing and prostration. 

What are these pillars?

1. Standing during obligatory prayers if one is able to do so
2. The opening takbeer (saying “Allaahu akbar”)
3. Reciting al-Faatihah
4. Rukoo’ (bowing), the least of which means bending so that the hands can touch the knees, but the most complete form means making the back level and the head parallel with it.
5. Rising from bowing
6. Standing up straight
7. Sujood (prostration), the most perfect form of which is placing the forehead, nose, palms, knees and toes firmly on the ground, and the least of which is placing a part of each of these on the ground.
8. Rising from prostration
9. Sitting between the two prostrations. However one sits is good enough, but the Sunnah is to sit muftarishan, which means sitting on the left foot and holding the right foot upright with the toes pointing towards the qiblah.
10. Being at ease in each of these physical pillars
11. The final tashahhud
12. Sitting to recite the final tashahhud and the two salaams
13. The two salaams. This means saying twice, “al-salaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmat-Allaah (Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allaah).” In naafil prayers it is sufficient to say one salaam; the same also applies to the funeral prayer.
14. Doing the pillars in the order mentioned here. If a person deliberately prostrates before bowing, for example, the prayer is invalidated; if he does that by mistake, he has to go back and bow, and then prostrate.

7. Deliberately doing an extra pillar, such as bowing. 

8. Deliberately doing some pillars before others (changing the order). 

9. Deliberately saying the Salam before completing the prayer. 

10. Deliberately changing the meaning whilst reciting. 

11. Deliberately omitting one of the obligatory parts of prayer, such as the first Tashahhud . However, if a person forgets, his prayer is valid but he must do the prostration of forgetfulness (Sujud As-Sahw). 

12. Deciding (intending in the heart) to stop praying. 

13. Laughing out loud. Merely smiling does not invalidate the prayer. 

14. Deliberately speaking. If one speaks by mistake or out of ignorance of the ruling, the prayer is not invalidated. 

15. Intentional eating and drinking (while praying).  

References:

• Dalil At-Talib li Nayl Al-Matalib by Shaykh Mar`i ibn Yusuf Al-Hanbali, p. 34)
• Durus Muhimmah by Shaykh Ibn Baz. 

WHAT IF YOU MAKE THE WRONG INTENTION FOR A PRAYER? IS THE PRAYER VALID?

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen was asked about changing the intention in prayer. 

He replied: 

Changing the intention means either changing it from one specific thing to another, or from something general to something specific. This is not correct, but if it is changing it from something specific to something general, then there is nothing wrong with that. 

For example: 

Changing from one specific thing to another: A person wanted to change the Sunnah prayer of Duha to the regular prayer of Fajr which he had missed and wanted to make up. He said takbeer with the intention of offering two rak’ahs of Duha, then he remembered that he had not offered the regular prayer of Fajr, so he changed it to the regular prayer of Fajr. This is not valid, because the regular prayer of Fajr is two rak’ahs for which he should have had the intention from the beginning of the prayer. 

Another example is a man who started to pray ‘Asr, but whilst praying he remembered that he had not prayed Zuhr, so he intended this prayer to be Zuhr. This is also not valid, because the intention for a specific prayer must be there from the outset. 

With regard to changing from something general to something specific, such as if a person started to offer a general (i.e., naafil) prayer, then he remembered that he had not prayed Fajr or the Sunnah of Fajr, so he changed his intention to Fajr prayer or the Sunnah of Fajr – this is also not valid. 

But if he changes from something specific to something general, such as if he starts praying with the intention that it is the regular prayer of Fajr, then whilst he is praying he remembers that he has already offered this prayer, in that case he may change his original intention to the intention to simply offer a prayer. 

Another example is that of a man who starts to offer an obligatory prayer on his own, then a group (jamaa’ah) comes along, and he wants to change his obligatory prayer to a naafil prayer so that he may cut it short and offer two rak’ahs only, then offer the obligatory prayer with the group. This is permissible, because he is changing from something specific to something general. 

So the principle is: 

Changing from one specific thing to another is not valid; changing from something general to something specific is not valid; changing from something specific to something general is valid. 

End quote from Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 12/ Question no. 347. 

The Shaykh was also asked: 

Is it permissible to change one’s intention from one specific thing to another? 

He replied: It is not permissible to change one’s intention from one specific thing to another, or from something general to something specific. Rather it is only permissible to change one’s intention from something specific to something general. 

An example of the first, changing one’s intention from one specific thing to another, is changing the intention from praying Zuhr to praying ‘Asr. In this case the Zuhr prayer is invalidated, because one has turned away from it, and ha has not started ‘Asr prayer because that was not the intention from the outset. In that case both prayers must be made up. 

An example of the second, changing from something general to something specific, is when a person starts to pray a general naafil prayer, then turns the intention to a specific naafil prayer, then he changes it into regular Sunnah prayer, i.e., a man starts to pray with a general intention, then he wants to make it the regular Sunnah prayer of Zuhr – for example. But this does not count as the regular Sunnah prayer, because he did not have that intention from the outset. 

An example of the third, changing from something specific to something general, is when a person intends to offer the regular Sunnah prayer of Maghrib, then he decides to make it a general Sunnah prayer. This is valid and does not invalidate the prayer, because the intention to perform a specific prayer includes the intention to offer prayer in general, so if the specific intention is cancelled out, the general intention still remains, but if he does that, then his regular Sunnah prayer does not count because he has turned away from it. 

End quote from Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 12/ question no. 348.