Imam Mālik and Imam al-Shāfiʿī maintained that the prayer of a person who speaks out of ignorance, forgets that he is praying, or thinks he has already finished and therefore pronounces the salām and talks, remains valid—whether the speech concerns the prayer or something else, and whether the speaker is leading or following. The latter part of the prayer is simply built upon the former, and the prayer is deemed sound and complete.
This same view—that the prayer is not broken by the speech of one who is ignorant, forgetful, under duress, or who speaks for the benefit of the prayer after the salām but before actually completing it—was also adopted by Imam Aḥmad in several strong, reliable reports from him, and it is the preferred position of Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah.
The proofs for this opinion are clear and compelling.
Among them is the ḥadīth of Dhū l-Yadayn and the conversation that took place between the Prophet ﷺ, Dhū l-Yadayn, Abū Bakr, and ʿUmar, as well as the fact that some of the congregation hurried out of the mosque saying to one another, “Has the prayer been shortened?”
There is also the report in Muslim from Muʿāwiyah ibn al-Ḥakam: “While I was praying with the Prophet ﷺ, a man in the congregation sneezed, so I said, ‘May Allah have mercy on you.’ The people glared at me, so I said, ‘Woe is me! Why are you looking at me?’ They began striking their hands on their thighs, and I realized that they were trying to silence me, so I kept quiet. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had finished the prayer ⦗1⦘ he said, ‘This prayer is not suitable for any of the ordinary speech of people,’ yet he did not command me to repeat the prayer.”
Further evidence is found in the ḥadīth, “My ummah has been pardoned for mistakes, forgetfulness, and what they are compelled to do,” along with other authentic, unequivocal texts.
The ḥadīth at hand, and others like it, are therefore understood to refer to one who speaks deliberately while knowing the prohibition.
The scholars have differed regarding actions such as blowing, clearing the throat, sighing, groaning, sobbing, and the like.
Some of them—the well-known position in the Ḥanbalī and Shāfiʿī schools—held that the prayer is invalidated if two consecutive letters that form intelligible speech are produced.
If no two such letters are produced, or if the weeping is from fear of Allah, or the throat-clearing is out of necessity, then according to the Ḥanbalīs the prayer is not invalidated. Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn (Ibn Taymiyyah) chose the view that these sounds do not nullify the prayer even if two letters can be distinguished, because they are not of the same genus as ordinary speech and therefore cannot be analogized to it.
He also transmitted a report of non-invalidation from Imams Mālik and Aḥmad, citing as proof the ḥadīth in which ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I had two opportunities each day and night to enter upon the Messenger of Allah. Whenever I entered and he was praying, he would clear his throat.” Reported by Aḥmad and Ibn Mājah.