Does the Thought of the Prophet ﷺ During Prayer Invalidate the Prayer?

Question

In our area the Deobandi religious scholars have been defamed: people say that the Deobandis claim that Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa ﷺ was an ordinary human being, and that if the thought of him comes to mind during prayer, the prayer is not valid at all. It is for this reason that they have been defamed. Please be sure to send a fatwa on this.

Answer

The creed of the scholars of Deoband is that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is the highest in rank and the nearest of all the messengers of Allah the Pure; that the perfections which Allah the Exalted bestowed upon him were, in their totality, not attained by any prophet or angel; that he ﷺ is the Sayyid (master)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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