Do Breathing Sounds Invalidate the Prayer?

I am someone who suffers from shortness of breath. It is very difficult for me to not take deep breaths. This normally makes a sound and I’m very confused about whether this kind of sound equals two letters or not. Are my prayers valid?

I pray this finds you in the best of states.

Your condition is without a doubt an excuse to ignore any letters your breathing would produce and your prayers are valid.

Our legal responsibility (taklif) is within the limits of reason: Allah Most High has informed us, “Allah does not burden souls with more than they can manage.” [Quran, 2:286]

Please be assured that your prayers are valid. For example, coughing invalidates the prayer when letters are produced through this coughing only when this coughing happens without excuses. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

You should categorically ignore any misgivings (waswas).

And Allah knows best.

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found.

Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.

He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others.

He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.