Does laughter invalidate the ablution and the prayer?

Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, one of the students of knowledge told me that if a person laughs during the prayer, he must renew his ablution and then repeat the prayer, and he cited evidence for this. I ask for clarification.

Answer:
This is the view of the Hanafis; they hold that loud laughter invalidates the ablution. The Hanafis hold that if one laughs loudly, his ablution is invalidated. There is a hadith to this effect, but the majority of scholars have reservations about this hadith. As for whether it invalidates the prayer, yes, loud laughter invalidates the prayer. But if one smiles or laughs lightly, his prayer is not invalidated. Unless he laughs loudly, because loud laughter involves the articulation of letters. So there is a difference between the ablution and the prayer: the prayer is invalidated by loud laughter, while the ablution is invalidated by loud laughter according to the Hanafis, but the majority say no, it does not invalidate the ablution.