Question:
Assalamualaikum, I want to ask regarding the ruling of someone who burped in prayer. Does it invalidate the prayer the same way as someone who farted?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
Definition of Burp
al-Syeikh Abu al-Abbas ‘Ali al-Fayyumi defined burp as: voice with gas expelled from mouth when one is full. Refer to Al-Misbah Al-Munir, Al-Fayyumi (1/102).
While in Al Tanwir Syarah al-Jami’ al-Saghir, it is defined as: Gas expelled from the stomach when it is filled (when one is full). Refer to Al-Tanwir, Al-Son’aani (8/152).
According to Kamus Dewan, burp is a sound from the throat when one is full or others. See 4th Edition Kamus Dewan.
Discussion Regarding Burp
Basically, the act of burping itself was rebuked by the Prophet PBUH. This is in accordance with a narration from Ibn Umar RA, where he said:
تَجَشَّأَ رَجُلٌ عِنْدَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ كُفَّ عَنَّا جُشَاءَكَ فَإِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شِبَعًا فِي الدُّنْيَا أَطْوَلُهُمْ جُوعًا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ
“A man belched in the presence of the Prophet PBUH, so he said: 'Restrain your belching from us. For indeed those who are filled most in the world will be the hungriest on the Day of Judgement.”
Sunan al-Tirmizi (2478)
The above hadith shows that the act of burping (belching) is restricted in terms of the act itself.
Imam al Manawi commented on the above hadith saying: The restriction of burping is actually on the prohibition of burping when one is extremely full, which is a reproachable act from the medical and Islamic perspective. Refer Faidhul Qadir, Al Munawi (5/11).
However, the restriction of burping is only applicable if it is due to excessive eating. In truth, it is a bad deed for extreme fullness would lead to other negative actions such as laziness in worship and sins.
As accidental burping, such as when one is experiencing gas in the digestive tract, then it is not an offense. However, among the ethics and manners is to not accidentally burp in front of others.
Burping in Prayer
This issue has its very own discussion among scholars of fiqh in terms of whether the act of burping itself will invalidate someone’s prayer or not.
Basically, burping is not included as the matters that invalidate prayer as explained in several authentic narrations. This means, there is no evidence from syarak which state burping will invalidate prayer.
However, some fiqh scholars said that through qiyas (analogical deduction) that if the Prophet PBUH prohibit burping outside of prayer, then surely it is prohibited in prayer.
Conclusion
To close, we would like to state that burping does not invalidate the prayer. However, it is a discourteous act in prayer and could even lead to the ruling of makruh (undesirable) if it produces a bad smell that disturb others. Whereas, for the question of whether burping has the same effect as farting, then the answer is not at all. The reason is, farting refers to gaseous expelled from the anus which is different from burping.
May Allah SWT give us deep understanding in our religion. Ameen.