Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Please elaborate about how salat can be voided by laughing. What constitutes laughing to oneself or out loud? For example, what if a funny thought causes one to breath differently in an audible manner without laughing? What if one is reciting aloud as an imam and one alters the tone or volume of one’s recitation as a result of a funny thought though one does not laugh? What is a typical course of study for the Hanbali mathab? What books should I read?
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
If one laughs such that others could have heard your laughter, it invalidates both wudu and prayer.
If you laugh such that only you could hear it, then it does not invalidate your wudu but does invalidate your prayer. [Maraqi al-Falah, Durr al-Mukhtar Sharh Tanwir al-Absar]
Breathing and volume of recitation do not affect this.
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani