I was praying while my young son was playing in front of me. When I noticed him approaching the stove where I had left [a pot], I broke off my prayer to save him, fearing for his safety. What is the ruling on this?

It is permissible in Islamic law to break an obligatory prayer for important and legitimate matters, whether religious or mundane, that cannot be deferred. In fact, this may even be obligatory if the matter involves saving someone from drowning or rescuing a person in distress, as opposed to a minor matter or one that can be deferred until after, or even by shortening, the prayer.

The premise for this is the report of al-Azraq Ibn Qays who said, “We were in Ahwaz fighting against the Haruriyyah [the Kharijites]. While I was by the bank of a river, I saw a man praying, holding the reins of his mount, which began pulling away, so he broke off the prayer to follow it. Shu‘bah said, ‘He is Abu Barzah al-Aslami, may Allah be pleased with him.’ Then a man from the Kharijites said, ‘O Allah, punish this old man!’ When the man returned and completed his prayer, he said, ‘I heard what you said. I fought alongside the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in six campaigns, or seven, or eight, and I witnessed his leniency. If I were to return with my mount, it would be more beloved to me than leaving it to go back to its usual resting place, for that would cause me hardship’” (recorded by Imams al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Ahmad in his Musnad, Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih, and al-Hakem in his Mustadrak). Imam Bukhari dedicated a chapter in his Sahih titled ‘If an animal runs away while one is in prayer.’

Ibn Battal, the Maliki scholar, noted in Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari (3/203), “This serves as evidence for jurists that whenever something is at risk of being lost — whether belongings, money, or anything people may need — it is permissible to break one’s prayer to retrieve it. This is analogous to breaking the prayer to stop a runaway animal.”

The Shafi’i scholar, Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani stated in Fath Al-Bari (3/82), “This  serves as evidence for jurists in their ruling that anything that is feared to be lost, whether property or otherwise, permits breaking the prayer to attend to it.”

As for breaking the prayer to save a life that is sacrosanct under Islamic law, it is obligatory and whoever neglects it is sinful.
Imam ‘Izz al-Din Ibn ‘Abd al-Salam, the Shafi‘i scholar, said in Qawa‘id Al-Ahkam fi Masalih Al-Anam (1/66), “Saving the lives of innocent drowning individuals takes precedence over performing prayer, because rescuing them is better in the sight of Allah than offering prayer. Both benefits can be achieved by performing the rescue and then making up the prayer afterward. It is well known that the benefit lost by missing a prayer does not compare to saving the life of a Muslim from death.”

The ruling

Based on the above, breaking your prayer to save your young son from danger or harm is obligatory in Islamic law. You must repeat the prayer from its beginning afterwards.

And Allah Almighty knows best.