Coughing during the prayer

Question

(1) A certain person says that if the imam, standing at the place of prayer, coughs after having made the niyya of the prayer, then he has brought kufr upon himself, he has also become a hypocrite (munafiq), the prayer has become fasid, and praying behind this imam is also not permissible. [Is this so]? (2) I, Nafis Ahmad, have been leading the prayer as imam for about fourteen years, and I received my education at Jami‘a Islamiyya Rerhi Tajpura, Saharanpur district.

Answer

(1) Coughing is an involuntary thing. The Prophet ﷺ too was overcome by a cough while leading the prayer, as is [reported] in “Sahih al-Bukhari”. To call the imam a kafir or a munafiq because he coughed is a very grave thing to say; that person must repent immediately. (2) The answer to this has already come in (1). Coughing oneself when necessary is also permissible.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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