Swallowing Phlegm in Prayer and Its Effect

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, we heard that holding back phlegm in prayer invalidates it, because holding back phlegm invalidates fasting, so it is all the more likely to invalidate prayer, since it is a type of eating or drinking in prayer. What is your opinion on this?

Answer:
I have not answered her; I have not come across this statement. I do not know about this statement. However, the jurists say regarding fasting: if the phlegm comes from the chest and exits to the mouth, and then she returns it and swallows it, her fast is invalidated, because the mouth is considered outside the body, and it has exited to it, and then she returned it and swallowed it, so her fast is invalidated. But if it did not exit to the mouth, and it was only in the throat and returned to the stomach, this does not affect the fast, because it did not exit the body. As for prayer, I do not know of anyone [who says this]. I do not know; I have not come across this matter.