41.1. CHAPTER THINGS THAT NULLIFY A FAST AND WHICH MAKE EXPIATION WAJIB
He who eats, drinks, snuffs, has an injection, uses kohl which reaches his throat or inserts objects into his body via any of the bodily openings except the urethra.
“Chapter: Things that nullify a fast and which make expiation wajib”: There are nullifiers of fasts which can be divided into two categories:
First: That which nullifies the fast but no expiation is necessary.
Second: That which nullifies the fast but expiation is necessary. This category will be discussed at a later point inshallah.
We will first discuss regarding that which nullifies the fast but does not require expiation:
“He who eats, drinks, snuffs, has an injection, uses kohl which reaches his throat or inserts objects into his body via any of the bodily openings except the urethra.”
This category can be further subdivided into: (i) Things which enter the body, (ii) things which exit the body.
Things which enter the internal body:
“He who eats, drinks”: When one eats and drinks deliberately, his fast is nullified as mentioned by Allah in the ayah: {And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]. Then complete the fast until sunset.} (Al-Baqarah: 187)
Fasting is from dawn to dusk and one who is fasting should abstain from eating and drinking. If he does eat and drink deliberately, his fast is nullified. However, if he eats or drinks forgetting that he is fasting, then his fast is still valid. The Prophet(pbuh) said, “Let he who forgets [that he is fasting] and eats or drinks continue to fast for indeed it is Allah who has given him food and drink.” (Reported by al-Bukhari (3/40) and Muslim (3/160) from the narration of Abu Hurairah.) Similarly, if a person is forced to eat or drink, then his fast is still valid. This is because an act that is forced upon a person is not attributed to him as he had no say in consuming the food and drink. It was coerced upon him. Thus, the fast is valid.
“Snuffs”: This is akin to eating and drinking. All that enters one’s internal body falls under this category. Foreign objects inserted via body openings which lead to the internal body like the nose and mouth nullify the fast. Things that reach a person’s throat or the stomach also nullify the fast. This is the case if the individual does so deliberately and fully conscious that he is fasting. This is because it is tantamount to eating and drinking.
Similarly, hypodermic needles that pump nutrients into the vein are substitutes for food and drink to the body. If he is administered these nutrients when he is fasting, has not forgotten it and has it in his mind and was not coerced into being administered it, then his fast becomes invalid. This is because the nutrients act as a food source.
“Has an injection”: Some scholars state that when a person is injected medicine intravenously, it enters the blood stream thereby reaching the internal bodily system. Injections administered to the intramuscular and subcutaneous regions do not nullify fasting as they do not reach the internal bodily system. However, avoiding them until night is best.
“Has an injection, uses kohl which reaches his throat or inserts objects into his body via any of the bodily openings”: Using kohl or eye drops and nose drops may lead the contents to enter the trachea. This happens often as the taste is noted in the throat. If a fasting person does so deliberately and it reaches the throat which is confirmed if he tastes it, then his fast is nullified. However, if he does so forgetfully or is coerced to do so, then it does not affect the validity of his fast.
“Except the urethra”: This is known as al-ihlil in Arabic. Introducing a foreign object into the urinary tract does not nullify the fast as medicine administered into it does not lead to the internal bodily system.
If a person vomits, masturbates, ejaculates pre-seminal fluid or sperm after sexual intercourse, keeps looking at something which causes sperm to flow out, does cupping or has cupping done on him until blood is seen, then the fast is nullified if these things are done deliberately and while fully aware that he is fasting. It is not nullified if he does these things forgetting that he is fasting or if he is coerced into doing them.
The second sub-category:
Things which exit the body:
“If a person vomits”: Things that are discharged from the body, for example vomit. If one does so voluntarily, then his fast is nullified. Involuntary vomiting however does not nullify a fast.
“Masturbates, ejaculates pre-seminal fluid or sperm after sexual intercourse and keeps looking at something which causes sperm to flow out”: Other kinds of discharge that nullify a fast are ejaculation due to sexual intercourse, heavy fondling or masturbation, which is known as the hidden sin. A fast nullified by ejaculation during sexual intercourse also requires the person to give expiation for the deed. This will be discussed shortly.
“Does cupping or has cupping done on him until blood is seen”: Another means of one’s fast being nullified is by performing cupping (hijamah). Blood is extracted from the body by cups that have a vacuum. Hijamah is popular with the Arabs and has been cited in prophetic medicine. If blood-letting occurs via cupping, venesection or a newly-invented method that creates a suction in an emergency or as blood donation, then fasting becomes nullified.
When the Prophet(pbuh) saw a man who was having cupping performed on him while he was fasting, he said, “The one performing the cupping and the one on whom cupping is performed have nullified their fasts.” (Reported by Ahmad (4/123,124), Abu Dawud (2368,2369) from the narration of Shadad ibn Aws.) This hadith proves that hijamah nullifies fasting. Any procedure that is similar to cupping such as the suction of blood that occurs during blood donation or dialysis will nullify a fast. Drawing small amounts of blood, a blood test for example, does not nullify the fast as it is not like cupping which involves copious amounts of blood. The fast is not nullified if a person undergoes a molar tooth extraction while he is fasting and bleeding occurs as a result of it. This is because the bleeding was not deliberate and it is not considered the same as cupping.
Why did the Prophet say, “The one performing the cupping and the one on whom cupping is performed have nullified their fasts?” The one on whom cupping is performed has his fast nullified because of the bleeding of his body that was caused by the suction. As for the one who performed the cupping, his fast is nullified because he had extracted blood which would have otherwise provided strength to the body.
“Then the fast is nullified if these things are done deliberately and while fully aware that he is fasting. It is not nullified if he does these things forgetting that he is fasting or if he is coerced into doing them”: If one does things like eating, drinking, introducing a foreign object into the internal body or had cupping performed on him while he was fully aware that he was fasting, then his fast is nullified. This is because his actions were deliberate and he did not have a valid excuse for doing so. If, however he does these things whilst being unaware that he is fasting, then his fast is valid as the Prophet(pbuh) said, “Let he who forgets [that he is fasting] and eats or drinks continue to fast for indeed it is Allah who has given him food and drink.” Allah says in the Qur’an: {And there is no blame upon you for that in which you have erred but [only for] what your hearts intended.} (Al-Ahzab: 5) He also says: {Our Lord! Do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred.} (Al-Baqarah: 286) The Prophet(pbuh) said, “My nation is forgiven for their mistakes, forgetfulness and that which is coerced upon them.” (Reported by Ibn Hibban (7219), al-Daraqutni (4/170-171), al-Bayhaqi (7/356) and al-Hakim (2/198) from the narration of Abdullah ibn Abbas.)
If a fly or dust enters his throat, if he imagines something and seminal fluid flows as a result or he has a wet dream, if he wakes and food happens to be in his mouth and he spits it out, he takes a bath or gargles his mouth, draws water into the nose and does it more than three times or exaggerates while doing so such that water enters his throat, then his fasting is not nullified. The fast of one who ate while unsure of the arrival of dawn, is valid. However, if he ate while being unsure if the sun has set or he is convinced that it is night and later realizes that it is daytime, then his fast is nullified.
We have discussed things that nullify a fast, such as eating, drinking, masturbation, cupping and other such matters that enter the internal body or which the body discharges. The author now mentions things that do not nullify the fast due to their inevitability i.e., due to the person’s inability to prevent them.
Among the things mentioned is smoke or dust entering the throat. When a person passes by an open fire and the smoke enters his throat, his fast is not affected by it. This is because it was involuntary.
“If a fly or dust enters his throat”: These do not nullify the fast.
“If he imagines something and seminal fluid flows as a result”: That is, he imagines sexual encounters or fantasizes about women, which causes seminal fluid to flow. This does not nullify the fast as it was involuntary. Thoughts and fantasies occur suddenly and they are inevitable.
“Or he has a wet dream”: When seminal fluid flows while he is asleep, his fast is not nullified. This is because a wet dream is involuntary. He must however perform the ritual bath to cleanse himself of janabah (the state of greater impurity).
“If he wakes and food happens to be in his mouth and he spits it out”: This will not nullify his fast as the mouth is still considered a part of the external bodily system. If he swallows the food deliberately however, his fast is nullified.
“He takes a bath or gargles his mouth, draws water into the nose and does it more than three times or exaggerates while doing so such that water enters his throat, then his fasting is not nullified”: If water enters the throat in a manner which is not done deliberately, then his fast is not affected. Examples would be bathing, gargling the mouth, drawing water into the nose and expelling it. This is because there was no deliberate intention to consume water. If he had this intention while doing these acts that cause water to reach the throat, then he is judged to have drunk water and his fast is nullified. For this reason, the Prophet(pbuh) said, “And exert when drawing water into the nose and expelling it unless you are fasting.” (Reported by Ahmad (4/32, 33, 211), Abu Dawud (142), al-Tirmidhi (788) and al-Nasa’i (1/66) from the narration of Laqidh ibn Sabrah.) He(pbuh) forbade the fasting person from exerting the drawing of water into the nose due to the chance of it going into the throat.
“The fast of one who ate while unsure of the arrival of dawn”: And he was not informed by anyone that he had actually eaten after dawn. In this case, his fast is valid as the default consideration is the prevalence of night until proven otherwise.
“However, if he ate while being unsure if the sun had set”: And he was not informed by anyone that the sun had set. In this case, the fast is nullified as the default consideration is the prevalence of day until proven otherwise.
“Or he is convinced that it is night and later realizes that it is daytime, then his fast is nullified”: That is, the individual ate since he was sure that night time had arrived but it dawned upon him later that it was in fact still daytime. His fast is nullified in this case. However, if he is not informed by anyone that it is daytime, then the default consideration is the prevalence of night as we have discussed above.
By Shaykh Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan
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