Movement in prayer invalidates it, but when an insect comes upon the face of the one praying during prayer, such as a fly, or if a person has a cold or something else
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The questioner : Movement in prayer invalidates it, there is no doubt about that. But when an insect comes upon the face of the one praying during prayer, such as a mosquito or an annoying fly, or when a person has a cold and a runny nose or something else that prompts him to move, does he have the right to move his hand to drive away that insect or to wipe his nose? Or must he be patient until the prayer is finished? Please clarify the ruling on movement in prayer. May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment:
The statementThe questioner : Movement in prayer, there is no doubt that it invalidates the prayer. This is not correct. Movement in prayer falls into categories:
The first category is obligatory movement, the second is recommended movement, the third is permissible movement, the fourth is disliked movement, and the fifth is forbidden movement that invalidates the prayer.
As for obligatory movement: it is any movement upon which the validity of the prayer depends. An example of this is if one remembers that there is impurity in his head covering, or in his clothing, or in his leather socks. In this case, he must remove that impurity by taking off the head covering, or taking off the trousers, or taking off the leather sock, because the validity of the prayer depends on that. For this reason, when Jibril informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that there was filth in his sandals, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took them off.
Likewise, if one is praying not facing the qiblah in the open, but this was due to his independent legal reasoning, and then a person comes and says: “The qiblah is to your right,” then he must move toward the qiblah, because the validity of the prayer depends on this movement.
Likewise, if one stands alone behind the row to complete the row, and then a gap opens up in front of him, he must move forward to the row, because the validity of the prayer depends on this movement.
There are other examples of this, but the criterion is that any movement upon which the prayer depends is obligatory.
As for recommended movement: it is any movement upon which a virtue in the prayer depends, such as closing the gaps in the row, by people moving closer together bit by bit. Here, movement is necessary.
And like when two people begin the prayer, an imam and a follower, and then a third person comes. Here, it is a recommended practice for the two to move back behind the imam. This movement is recommended because the perfection of the prayer depends on it.
Many people ask: Does the third person who enters line up before his companion pulls him forward and the imam moves forward, or does the imam move forward, or does he pull his companion forward before lining up in the prayer?
The answer is: The imam moves forward, or the follower is moved back, and then he lines up. Because if he lined up before the imam moved forward or the follower was moved back, it would necessitate movement in the prayer for no reason. So, recommended movement is any movement upon which the perfection of the prayer depends.
Permissible movement: any movement for a need that does not relate to the prayer, or for a dire necessity. An example of this is if someone asks permission to enter his room and the door is closed, so he moves forward a little and then opens the door, or if someone asks him about something, whether it happened or not.
He nods his head yes if it happened, or uses his hand no if it did not happen, and the like of that.
As for itching in prayer, if it is a slight itch that does not remove humility, it is in the category of permissible movement. And if it is a severe itch that removes humility, then moving to scratch it is a recommended practice, because the perfection of the prayer depends on that, because if he scratches it, it cools down for him and his heart becomes present in the prayer.
As for disliked movement: it is movement that is not needed but is not excessive. For example, some people fiddle with their pen, or their watch, or their nose, or their head covering, or their shawl, or the like of that. This is disliked movement. If it becomes frequent and continuous, it becomes part of the fifth category:
Which is: excessive movement without dire necessity. This invalidates the prayer because it is completely contrary to prayer. Among this is laughing, for laughing in prayer invalidates it, because laughing is completely contrary to humility. For this reason, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said: Laughing in prayer invalidates it, unlike smiling. Smiling does not involve sound, so it does not invalidate the prayer.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment:
The statementThe questioner : Movement in prayer, there is no doubt that it invalidates the prayer. This is not correct. Movement in prayer falls into categories:
The first category is obligatory movement, the second is recommended movement, the third is permissible movement, the fourth is disliked movement, and the fifth is forbidden movement that invalidates the prayer.
As for obligatory movement: it is any movement upon which the validity of the prayer depends. An example of this is if one remembers that there is impurity in his head covering, or in his clothing, or in his leather socks. In this case, he must remove that impurity by taking off the head covering, or taking off the trousers, or taking off the leather sock, because the validity of the prayer depends on that. For this reason, when Jibril informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that there was filth in his sandals, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took them off.
Likewise, if one is praying not facing the qiblah in the open, but this was due to his independent legal reasoning, and then a person comes and says: “The qiblah is to your right,” then he must move toward the qiblah, because the validity of the prayer depends on this movement.
Likewise, if one stands alone behind the row to complete the row, and then a gap opens up in front of him, he must move forward to the row, because the validity of the prayer depends on this movement.
There are other examples of this, but the criterion is that any movement upon which the prayer depends is obligatory.
As for recommended movement: it is any movement upon which a virtue in the prayer depends, such as closing the gaps in the row, by people moving closer together bit by bit. Here, movement is necessary.
And like when two people begin the prayer, an imam and a follower, and then a third person comes. Here, it is a recommended practice for the two to move back behind the imam. This movement is recommended because the perfection of the prayer depends on it.
Many people ask: Does the third person who enters line up before his companion pulls him forward and the imam moves forward, or does the imam move forward, or does he pull his companion forward before lining up in the prayer?
The answer is: The imam moves forward, or the follower is moved back, and then he lines up. Because if he lined up before the imam moved forward or the follower was moved back, it would necessitate movement in the prayer for no reason. So, recommended movement is any movement upon which the perfection of the prayer depends.
Permissible movement: any movement for a need that does not relate to the prayer, or for a dire necessity. An example of this is if someone asks permission to enter his room and the door is closed, so he moves forward a little and then opens the door, or if someone asks him about something, whether it happened or not.
He nods his head yes if it happened, or uses his hand no if it did not happen, and the like of that.
As for itching in prayer, if it is a slight itch that does not remove humility, it is in the category of permissible movement. And if it is a severe itch that removes humility, then moving to scratch it is a recommended practice, because the perfection of the prayer depends on that, because if he scratches it, it cools down for him and his heart becomes present in the prayer.
As for disliked movement: it is movement that is not needed but is not excessive. For example, some people fiddle with their pen, or their watch, or their nose, or their head covering, or their shawl, or the like of that. This is disliked movement. If it becomes frequent and continuous, it becomes part of the fifth category:
Which is: excessive movement without dire necessity. This invalidates the prayer because it is completely contrary to prayer. Among this is laughing, for laughing in prayer invalidates it, because laughing is completely contrary to humility. For this reason, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said: Laughing in prayer invalidates it, unlike smiling. Smiling does not involve sound, so it does not invalidate the prayer.