Short answer
Usually not. In the Hanafi fatwa position, small mistakes in vowels or pronunciation, skipping a word, or repeating a verse do not break the prayer. It is broken only by a mistake that changes the meaning badly, such as turning a statement of faith into something false, and that you do not correct.
Later Hanafi scholars, on whose view fatwa is given, hold that errors in vowels and grammar do not invalidate the prayer unless they create a meaning that would be disbelief if said deliberately. Correcting the mistake straight away removes the problem. Forgetting al-Fatihah or the extra surah in the first two rakats is fixed by sajdah al-sahw.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Al-Fatihah must be recited correctly in every rakah, every letter and shaddah included; an error in it that changes the meaning, if not corrected, means that rakah does not count.
- Hanbali
- Al-Fatihah must be recited correctly in every rakah; an error that changes its meaning must be corrected or the rakah does not count.
Explanation
Many Muslims, converts especially, worry that their Arabic is not perfect. The Hanafi school is gentle here. The early jurists judged errors by whether the meaning changed. The later jurists, whose view is used for fatwa because the old rule was too hard for non-Arabs, say that mistakes in vowels (harakat) or grammar generally do not break the prayer.
- Wrong vowel, missed shaddah or a stretched letter: the prayer is valid. Keep improving your tajwid.
- Skipping a word or a verse, or reciting from a different place: valid, if the meaning is not distorted.
- A mistake that changes the meaning grossly, for example attributing to Allah what is false, and you do not correct it: the prayer is broken. If you correct it at once, it is fine.
- Forgetting al-Fatihah or the surah in the first two rakats of a fard: do sajdah al-sahw.
- Reciting al-Fatihah twice before the surah: do sajdah al-sahw.
The Prophet ﷺ said that one who recites with difficulty, stumbling over the words, gets a double reward. So keep reciting what you know while you learn, and recite short surahs you know well in salah. If you lead others, be extra careful, and the follower may correct the imam quietly.
Our list of short surahs for salah is a good place to start, and the guide to how to pray covers what to recite in each rakah.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Muzzammil 73:4
أَوْ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ تَرْتِيلًا ﴿٤﴾
Or add to it, and recite the Qur'an with measured recitation.
Careful recitation is the goal, which we work towards.
Sahih Muslim 798
Sahih... والذي يقرأ القرآن ويتتعتع فيه وهو عليه شاق له أجران ...
"And the one who recites the Quran and stumbles in it, finding it hard, has two rewards."
A learner's struggle is rewarded, not punished.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Chapter on the mistakes of the reciter (zallat al-qari). Explains the earlier and later Hanafi views and that fatwa is on the later, more lenient view.
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Chapter on the mistakes of the reciter. Lists cases of errors in vowels, letters and words and which of them invalidate.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.