Is removing food remnants from the mouth during prayer and taking them in the hand to discard them—to avoid swallowing them—considered valid, or among the movements that invalidate prayer?
Slight actions that do not invalidate the prayer are those that resemble the Prophet’s actions (peace be upon him), such as carrying Umamah, ascending and descending the minbar, opening the door for Aisha, his delay in the eclipse prayer then his return, repelling passersby, killing snakes and scorpions, holding the ear, winking and gesturing, and counting glorifications (tasbeeh) on the fingers. The imams have agreed that there is no harm in slight actions performed out of necessity.
Swallowing food remnants from between the teeth does not invalidate the prayer, according to the preponderant opinion. This is due to the difficulty of guarding against it and its widespread occurrence, even if one intentionally swallows food from between their teeth, even if they chewed it because it was easy, or intentionally swallowed something like a raisin or a morsel without chewing it, otherwise the prayer would be invalidated.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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