Sawm & Fasting Companion

The fast (Sawm) has two non-negotiable core pillars:

• The Intention (Niyyah): Must be made from the heart before the break of dawn (Fajr) for obligatory Ramadan fasts. Stating it aloud is not a condition; heartfelt resolve suffices.
• Abstinence (Imsak): Refraining from food, drink, marital relations, and intentional nullifiers from the crack of dawn (Fajr) until total sunset (Maghrib).

The following nullify the fast and require making up one day (Qadha) after Ramadan without heavy expiation (Kaffarah):

• Eating or drinking intentionally (without forgetfulness). Note: If done out of genuine forgetfulness, the Prophet ﷺ stated: "His fast is valid; Allah fed him and gave him drink." (Bukhari & Muslim).
• Deliberately inducing vomiting by forcing oneself (unintentional vomiting does not break fast).
• Onset of menstruation (Hayd) or post-natal bleeding (Nifas), even moments before Maghrib.
• Nutritional intravenous (IV) fluids or glucose infusions that substitute for food/nourishment.

Engaging in sexual intercourse deliberately during the fasting daylight hours of Ramadan is a major sin that incurs Kaffarah in addition to making up the day:

The order of Kaffarah:

1. Freeing a believing slave (not applicable today).
2. Fasting 60 consecutive days (two lunar months) without interruption without a legitimate excuse.
3. If physically unable due to chronic illness or old age, feeding 60 destitute persons (one average meal each or its monetary value).

Based on consensus resolutions by the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (OIC):

• Asthma Inhalers: The majority of contemporary jurists (including Ibn Baz, Ibn 'Uthaymeen, and OIC Fiqh Academy) rule that therapeutic gas inhalers do not break the fast as the micro-droplets target bronchial airways, not digestive nutrition.
• Eye Drops & Ear Drops: Do not invalidate the fast even if a taste reaches the throat, provided they do not pass through a ruptured eardrum into digestion.
• Intramuscular & Subcutaneous Injections: Insulin, penicillin, analgesics, vaccines, or local dental anesthesia do not break the fast because they are non-nutritive and do not pass through the normal digestive tract.
• Routine Blood Tests: Drawing minor vials of blood for lab diagnostics does not invalidate the fast.

• Using the Siwak (natural tooth-stick) throughout the day without restriction.
• Brushing teeth with toothpaste, provided one is careful not to swallow any paste or water.
• Bathing, swimming, or pouring cold water over the head to relieve extreme summer heat.
• Swallowing one's own natural saliva is completely unanimously permitted.
• Rinsing the mouth and sniffing water for Wudu (without excessive exaggeration).
• Tasting food with the tip of the tongue for seasoning/cooking, provided it is spat out immediately and nothing reaches the esophagus.

Allah says in Surah Al-Baqarah (2:185): "Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship."

• Temporary Illness or Travel: May break fast and must make up (Qadha) day-for-day when restored or returned.
• Pregnant or Breastfeeding Women: If fearing harm for their own health or infant's nutrition, they are exempt and make up missed days when safely able.
• The Elderly & Chronically Terminally Ill: Who have no realistic hope of recovery are exempt from fasting and pay Fidyah: feeding one impoverished person for every missed day (approx. 1.5 kg staple food or local currency equivalent, typically $8-$12/day).