What is the ruling on breathing heavily while smiling during prayer?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
Humility (khushu') is the spirit and essence of prayer. A smile does not invalidate it according to the majority of scholars, in contrast to laughter, which nullifies it by consensus. Nevertheless, it is preferable to suppress it, in pursuit of complete humility and to avoid reaching the point of laughter that invalidates the prayer. Smiling does not invalidate the prayer unless it reaches the level of cackling (qahqahah) with the emission of two letters, whether accompanied by breathing or not.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/140796
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- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 140796
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- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy