Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
If one is praying fard in the masjid as a late comer he continues his salah. Meanwhile a brother gets up to give an important announcement. Can the person praying listen to the announcement? What if the announcement is distracting him from praying properly (such as when reciting quran from memory), can he pause until the announcement is done and then continue his recitation/salah?
Walaikum assalam,
It is necessary (wajib) in the Hanafi school not to have an undue interruption between the actions of the prayer. [Durr, and other works.]
An undue interruption is one that is more than the extent of 3 tasbihs without doing any of the acts of prayer (such as reciting, invocating or making dhikr).
As such, in the abovementioned case, the person should recite anyways, and do their best to concentrate. If they stop and listen, it would be prohibitively disliked (makruh tahriman), and it would be necessary (wajib) to repeat the prayer within the time.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani