Does distraction in prayer invalidate it, and is there a specific limit that requires repeating the prayer?
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The questioner : We begin this session with this question, His Eminence Shaykh Muhammad: Does distraction in prayer invalidate it, and is there a specific limit that requires repeating the prayer?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. The questioner means by distraction the bewilderment of the heart, its heedlessness, the whispers of Satan, and the talk of the self. Does this invalidate the prayer or not? It does not. The correct view is that it does not invalidate the prayer, but it diminishes it greatly, so that when he leaves his prayer, only half of it, or a quarter, or a tenth is recorded for him. The Companions complained of this to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so he ordered them that when they feel it, they should spit to their left three times and seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. The man who narrated that said, "I was afflicted with it, so I did that, and Allah removed from me what I was feeling." The cure for these whispers is for a person to spit to his left three times and say, "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan," three times. If he does that, Allah will remove it from him. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. The questioner means by distraction the bewilderment of the heart, its heedlessness, the whispers of Satan, and the talk of the self. Does this invalidate the prayer or not? It does not. The correct view is that it does not invalidate the prayer, but it diminishes it greatly, so that when he leaves his prayer, only half of it, or a quarter, or a tenth is recorded for him. The Companions complained of this to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so he ordered them that when they feel it, they should spit to their left three times and seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. The man who narrated that said, "I was afflicted with it, so I did that, and Allah removed from me what I was feeling." The cure for these whispers is for a person to spit to his left three times and say, "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan," three times. If he does that, Allah will remove it from him. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.