Ruling 933 — Prayer (Ṣalāh)

If someone performs part of the prayer for other than Allah the Exalted – irrespective of whether that part is an obligatory one, such as the recitation of Sūrat al-Ḥamd, or a recommended one, such as qunūt – and if that intention permeates the entire prayer – for example, his ostentatious intention in the performance of an act is to show off his prayer – or, if to redress that part it would mean adding an act that invalidates the prayer [for example, to redress the rukūʿ that he performed ostentatiously, he would need to perform another rukūʿ, which would invalidate the prayer, as mentioned in Ruling 928], then in these cases, his prayer is invalid. If one performs prayers for Allah the Exalted but to show off to people he performs it in a specific place such as a mosque, or at a particular time such as at the start of its prescribed time, or in a particular manner such as in congregation, then his prayer is invalid in these cases as well.