Answered by Shaykh Yūsuf Badāt
Question:
Does looking at a dog during formal prayer invalidate my ṣalāh?
Answer:
In the Name of God, Most Merciful, Most Kind.
Thank you/ Jazāk Allāh Khayr for contact Mathabah with your question.
Seeing a dog during ṣalāh (ritual prayer) does not invalidate the prayer. For your convenience, please see list below of the things that would actualy nullify the formal prayer:
- To deliberately break the wuḍū (ritual ablution).
- To break the wuḍū and then not rejoin the prayer through bināʿ with all its conditions.
- To speak deliberately or forgetfully.
- To articulate something that resembles human speech or similar to speech, such as saying “aah”, “oh” or “uff”.
- Blowing to the extent where a sound is heard.
- To cough or clear the throat unnecessarily.
- To cry or express agony for something not connected to the prayer or it’s recitation.
- To reply to someone sneezing, greeting or speaking.
- To accept a correction in recitation from someone who is not in the prayer or is offering another prayer.
- To make a grave error in recitation of the Qurʾān.
- To recite the Qurʾān by looking into the Qurʾān (according to Ḥanafī position).
- To laugh aloud during ṣalāh.
- To turn the chest away from the Qibla (prayer direction).
- The body area that is to be covered is exposed.
- Excessive movement that is not considered an action of the prayer, without necessity.
- A non-maḥram woman standing next to a man joined in the very same ritual prayer.
- Eating or drinking.
(Source: Al-Badāiʾ Al-Ṣanāiʾ)