Does Intending to Stop Prayer for Danger Invalidate It?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question

Does intending to stop the prayer in case of danger, like an earthquake or snake attack, invalidate the prayer?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

Yes, if one decides during the prayer to interrupt it if something occurs, such as “I will stop if a snake comes,” or “if the building shakes, I will break my prayer,” then the prayer is immediately invalidated, even if the event does not occur. This is because, as stated in Reliance of the Traveller, it invalidates the prayer “to decide to interrupt one’s prayer if such and such a thing happens, regardless whether the event will definitely occur during the prayer or whether it merely may happen.” [Keller, Reliance of the Traveller]

The prayer requires firm resolve and certainty (jazm) from beginning to end. Any conditional decision to stop the prayer undermines that resolve and breaks the prayer. Simply thinking about what one would do in an emergency is not harmful, but deciding to stop if something happens is.

Beware of Waswasa

That said, frequently entertaining such hypothetical situations without reason—like wondering whether you should stop your prayer for every possible disturbance—is a subtle form of waswasa (baseless misgivings). Shaytan seeks to disrupt the serenity and certainty of your worship, and he often does so by filling the mind with unnecessary doubt and fear.

“Verily, Shaytan only wants to cause between you enmity and hatred… and to prevent you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?”  [Quran, 5:91]

Therefore, train your heart to rely on Allah and commit to your prayer with clarity and focus. If a true emergency arises, Sacred Law permits breaking the prayer without sin. Until then, leave these imagined scenarios aside, and guard your connection with Allah.

And Allah knows best.

[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan (Allah have mercy on him), where he taught.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Shaykh Muhammad Awama, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Hitu, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has been the Director of the Discover Islam Centre, and for six years, he has been the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has fifteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town. He is currently building an Islamic podcast, education, and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy Prophetic living and fitness.