Q 497: Does testimony concerning the wilāyah of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (a), in the tashahhud invalidate the prayers?
A: The prayer including the tashahhud should be recited in such a way that our great marji‘s of taqlīd (May Allah increase them) mentioned within their books of Practical Laws of Islam and one should not add anything to it even if it is a true and correct phrase.
Q 498: A person is afflicted with riyā’ in his worship and he is now struggling with his self to overcome this riyā’. Is this also counted as a form of riyā’? How can he keep away from riyā’?
A: Any action done for Allah including fighting against riyā’ is not considered riyā’. To get rid of riyā’ one must think of the greatness of Almighty Allah, the weakness of his own self and his and others’ dependence on Allah, and his and their subservience to Him, the Exalted.
Q 499: When attending congregational prayers with the Sunnī brothers, the word “āmmīn” is pronounced loudly after the imam finishes reciting the Fātiḥah. What is the ruling on this?
A: If dissimulation requires saying “āmmīn” in the said situation, there is no problem in it; otherwise, it is not permissible.
Q 500: In our obligatory prayers is it allowed to say some of the words of the Fātiḥah, of another chapter or a dhikr in a loud voice in order to warn a child who is doing something dangerous or to make the occupants of the house aware of the situation so that they may remove the danger? In addition, what is the status of the person’s prayers during which he, through gestures of the hand or raising of the eyebrows, informs another person of something or answers his question?
A: If the raising of the voice when reciting a verse or dhikr (for the purpose of warning others) does not cause one to lose the status of being in prayer, then there is no objection to doing so, on condition that the recitation and the dhikr are done with the intention of recitation and dhikr. If moving the hand, eyebrows or eye is brief and does not ruin the necessary composure and stillness or the prescribed form of the prayers, it would not lead to invalidation of the prayer.
Q 501: Does it invalidate the prayers if a person laughs in the middle of his prayers upon recalling a joke or due to a humorous event?
A: The prayer will be invalid if the laughter is loud (guffaw).
Q 502: Does the passing of hands over the face [wiping] after the qunūt invalidate the prayer? And in case of its being void is it also considered to be a sin?
A: It is makrūh, but it does not invalidate the prayer.
Q 503: Is it allowed to close one’s eyes during prayers? (Because, keeping them open distracts one’s attention from the prayers.)
A: There is no shar‘ī problem in shutting eyes during prayer, although it is makrūh to do so.
Q 504: During my prayers I sometimes recall the spiritual heights and elevations that I experienced on the days of confrontation with the infidel Ba‘thist army and this helps me to increase my humility in prayers; does doing so invalidate the prayers?
A: It does not harm the validity of the prayer.
Q 505: Are the prayers invalid during the first three days in which two persons have quarreled, and broken ties? Does the same hold for fasting?
A: No, disagreement and enmity between two people invalidate neither the prayers nor the fasting, although it is disliked in shar‘.