Does Laughing in Prayer Break Wudu?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question
Does laughing in salah break one’s wudu?
Answer
I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.
It depends.
There are three levels [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]:
- Smiling is improper, yet doesn’t affect the validity of the prayer,
- Laughing to oneself invalidates the prayer itself, and
- Laughing out loud invalidates the prayer and the ablution (wudu).
The Holy Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whosoever amongst you laughs out loud, let him repeat both his prayer and ablution.” [Daraqutni]
The Hanafis acted according to this on the basis of juristic preference (istihsan) despite legal reasoning (qiyas) entailing otherwise.
The prayer is the place of intimate, direct discourse with one’s Maker, and the sanctity of this moment is vitiated by laughter or anything unbecoming at a time of such seriousness.
Please see: Could You Please List All the Nullifiers of Ablution According to the Hanafi school? and: Does Laughing Loudly in Prayer Break the Ablution?
And Allah alone gives success.
wassalam,
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorized the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan, and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.
