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Fatwa CenterResponding to One's Parents while Praying
Question
Hello I wanted to ask about a time when i was praying and my mum was saying something repeatedly to me so i got frustrated and raised my voice in my prayer and immediately regretted it but did that invalidate my prayer?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
If by raising your voice you mean that you recited louder to make your mother aware that you were in prayer, your prayer is not invalidated by this, and, Allah willing, this is not considered disobedience to your mother. Scholars have stated that it is permissible to raise one’s voice during prayer to convey a message. Ad-Dardir al-Maliki 
said in his commentary on Khalil’s Mukhtasar, when listing things that do not invalidate the prayer:
{If someone seeks permission to enter while a person is praying and reciting (the verse), ‘Indeed, the righteous will be amid gardens and springs} [Qur’an 15:45], he may raise his voice while reciting (the following verse), {Enter in it securely with peace} [Qur’an 15:46], intending by that to grant permission to enter, even if he recited this verse directly after finishing Al-Fatihah.”
However, if you raised your voice with speech unrelated to the prayer, your prayer is invalid and must be repeated. Ibn Al-Mundhir said in Al-Awsat:
“The scholars unanimously agree that if someone intentionally speaks during the prayer without the intention of seeking some benefit to his prayer (as, for example, if it is a reminder as to the incompleteness of the prayer), their prayer will become invalid.”
It is also important to know that if you are praying a Nafl (voluntary) prayer and your mother or father calls you, you should shorten your prayer and respond to them. This is based on the story of Jurayj the worshiper, when his mother called him while he was praying and he did not respond, so she supplicated against him, and Allah answered her supplication. This incident has been narrated in Sahih Muslim. Similarly, Ibn Abi Zayd Al-Qayrawani, Allaah have mercy upon him, said in “Az-Ziyadat wa An-Nawadir”:
“If a man’s father comes to speak to him while he is offering a voluntary prayer, he should shorten it, say the Taslim (saying “Assalamu ‘Alaykum wa Rahmatullah” to mark the termination of the prayer), and respond back to him. A similar narration is reported from the Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam). Likewise, if his mother calls him, he should quickly respond to her with Tasbih (saying ‘Subhanallah’), shorten the prayer, and say the Taslim.”
Imam An-Nawawi commented on the story of Jurayj saying:
“She supplicated against him, and Allah answered her supplication. The scholars said this is evidence that the correct action in his case was to respond to her because he was in a voluntary prayer, and it is not obligatory to continue with it. Whereas responding to one’s mother and honouring her is obligatory, and disobeying her is forbidden. Moreover, he could have shortened his prayer, responded to her, and then resumed praying.”
Allah knows best.
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