so Mu'awiyah said to him, “May Allah have mercy on you.” The people glared at him, and he said, “May my mother be bereaved of me! What is the matter with you, looking at me?” They began striking their thighs to make him be quiet, so he fell silent. When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, concluded the prayer, he informed him that no ordinary human speech is appropriate during the prayer (1). He did not command him to repeat it, because he was ignorant, even though he had spoken deliberately.

“A loud laugh is like speech. Likewise, if one blows or sobs without fear of Allah, Exalted is He, ……”

His statement, “A loud laugh is like speech”: A loud laugh is laughter accompanied by sound, commonly called a “chuckle.” Thus, if a person laughs audibly, it is like speech—indeed, more serious than speech—because it completely contradicts the nature of prayer. It is closer to frivolity than speech is. Therefore, if a person laughs aloud while praying, his prayer is invalidated, because this resembles play. But if he merely smiles without laughing aloud, the prayer is not invalidated, since no sound has emerged from him.

If he laughs aloud against his will—for some people, upon hearing something that pleases them, cannot restrain themselves from laughing, and thus laugh without intending to—then, according to the preponderant view, his prayer is not invalidated. This is like something falling upon him and causing him to say involuntarily, “Ah!” His prayer is likewise not invalidated, because he did not deliberately commit that which invalidates it.

His statement, “if one blows”: that is, if two letters become distinct, his prayer is invalidated, because he has spoken