The Prohibition of Looking Up at the Sky During Prayer
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Does looking up at the sky during prayer invalidate it, and what is the basis for the validity of the mention by some of the companions and the author of al-Inṣāf: that it is permissible to look up at the sky when belching?
Raising the gaze to the sky while a person is praying is prohibited, and there is severe warning against it, to the extent that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warned that the eye might be plucked out and not return to the one who does it -Meaning: to the one who raises his gaze to the sky - and this hadith indicates that raising the gaze to the sky during prayer is forbidden. If we apply this to the known principles of the jurists, it follows that his prayer is invalid; because this is prohibited specifically in prayer, and what is prohibited specifically in an act of worship necessitates its invalidity,And this is what the Zahiris went to, and they said: if raising the gaze to the sky during prayer invalidates it, and their statement is not far from being correct; because the prohibition is explicit.
As for the exception made by some scholars for this when belching, they did this, saying: because the person who belches usually emits a foul odor, so he should raise his face so as not to harm the praying people around him, but there is a problem with this exception.
First: The person who belches in the row does not have his face to the right or to the left, but rather to the front, so he will not harm anyone.
The second: If he raises his face to the sky when belching, he may be short and thus harm the tall ones, and how many tall people are there who are with short people in prayer? In any case, this exception, since there is no evidence for it from the Shari'ah, has become flawed and not consistent.
So the correct view is: That raising the gaze to the sky is forbidden during prayer, but regarding the invalidity, a person may hesitate, and the opinion of invalidity is very strong.
Raising the gaze to the sky while a person is praying is prohibited, and there is severe warning against it, to the extent that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warned that the eye might be plucked out and not return to the one who does it -Meaning: to the one who raises his gaze to the sky - and this hadith indicates that raising the gaze to the sky during prayer is forbidden. If we apply this to the known principles of the jurists, it follows that his prayer is invalid; because this is prohibited specifically in prayer, and what is prohibited specifically in an act of worship necessitates its invalidity,And this is what the Zahiris went to, and they said: if raising the gaze to the sky during prayer invalidates it, and their statement is not far from being correct; because the prohibition is explicit.
As for the exception made by some scholars for this when belching, they did this, saying: because the person who belches usually emits a foul odor, so he should raise his face so as not to harm the praying people around him, but there is a problem with this exception.
First: The person who belches in the row does not have his face to the right or to the left, but rather to the front, so he will not harm anyone.
The second: If he raises his face to the sky when belching, he may be short and thus harm the tall ones, and how many tall people are there who are with short people in prayer? In any case, this exception, since there is no evidence for it from the Shari'ah, has become flawed and not consistent.
So the correct view is: That raising the gaze to the sky is forbidden during prayer, but regarding the invalidity, a person may hesitate, and the opinion of invalidity is very strong.