If the one praying makes a comprehensible gesture during the prayer, his prayer is not invalidated.

The Shaykh : Here we pause to present a very important benefit, which some of the early jurists contradict, as they say that if one makes a comprehensible gesture during the prayer, his prayer is invalidated. This is contrary to the Sunnah; this opinion is contrary to the Sunnah. Here you see that the Messenger (peace be upon him) made a comprehensible gesture, and no, no.
The student : Of course.

The Shaykh : As if he said, "Sit down." So how can it be said that a comprehensible gesture invalidates the prayer? This is an opinion, and every opinion that contradicts the text is discarded. As the scholars and people of virtue said, and Ibn Qudamah: "When the report (athar) comes, the reasoning (nazar) is void," "When the report comes, the reasoning is void," and "When the river of Allah comes, the river of Ma'qil is void." The important thing is, this is for the one walking; this is a comprehensible gesture. So a comprehensible gesture does not invalidate the prayer. This is a matter a person needs; I might be with you, and perhaps you are all here. I entered the prayer, and my wife comes and says, "You are praying the obligatory prayer, you are praying the obligatory prayer." It is a comprehensible gesture. In the opinion of some, the prayer is invalidated. No, it is not invalidated. Nothing invalidates the prayer except explicit, intentional speech. "So he gestured to them to sit down, and they sat down." They cannot contradict the Messenger. And there are many such gestures in the Sunnah. In fact, a gesture may sometimes not only be permissible, but it may be a recommended practice (sunnah), or it may even be obligatory. For example, you are praying in this room, and someone enters and says, "Peace be upon you." Your duty is to return the greeting. But returning the greeting in prayer with the word "peace" invalidates the prayer, because the phrase "Peace be upon you" is speech. He said to you, "What? And upon you be peace."
The student : The prayer is invalidated.

The Shaykh : The prayer is invalidated, but he greeted him, and Allah says ; so at least you need to return this greeting, and you are standing in prayer, you do this. This is a gesture, and it is comprehensible that this gesture is...
The student: And upon you peace.

The Shaykh : So, returning the greeting is the case here. Not every gesture invalidates the prayer. Likewise, it was reported in *Sahih al-Bukhari* from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) "entered the Fajr prayer one day." Pardon me, my tongue got ahead of me; I attributed the hadith to al-Bukhari, but the phrase is not in al-Bukhari. However, this phrase is established in sources other than al-Bukhari. This slip of the tongue was, as they say, a blessing in disguise, because I intended to mention only the hadith of al-Bukhari, as that is sufficient for the benefit. So my tongue said "entered," and I moved on to another hadith. Now, I will mention the hadith of al-Bukhari, and then I will mention the other hadith, so we will benefit from two. The hadith of al-Bukhari, as I said, is from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): "That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood one day in his prayer place and intended to say the takbir for the Fajr prayer, but he remembered that he was in a state of major ritual impurity that he had not performed the full ritual bath. So he said to them: . He said to them: . And he went to perform the full ritual bath, then came back and prayed with them. This is the hadith in al-Bukhari, and it does not state that he entered the prayer. As for the hadith that contains , it is in *Sunan Abu Dawud*, from the hadith of Abu Bakrah al-Thaqafi (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entered the Fajr prayer one day and gestured to them." "He gestured to them." There is there, and here it is "he gestured to them to stay in their places," as you were standing.
The student : The intention with the prayer.

The Shaykh : Yes, "and he went and performed the full ritual bath, and he came, so he prayed with them." After the prayer, he said to them: ; and therefore he returned, performed the full ritual bath, and completed the prayer with them.