Fasting, questions and answers.
Ramadan, what breaks the fast, fidya, kaffarah, taraweeh and voluntary fasts. 32 answers, Hanafi first, with the Quran and hadith behind each one.
- Does brushing your teeth break your fast?No. Brushing your teeth does not break the fast as long as you swallow nothing. In the Hanafi school a miswak is sunnah at any time of the fasting day, while toothpaste and mouthwash are makruh (disliked) because of their taste, and swallowing any of them breaks the fast.
- Does swallowing mucus or saliva break your fast?No. Swallowing your own saliva never breaks the fast, and in the Hanafi school swallowing phlegm or mucus that comes down from your head or chest does not break it either, though spitting it out is better. Swallowing someone else's saliva, or saliva with a lot of blood in it, does break the fast.
- Do eye drops, ear drops or nasal spray break your fast?Eye drops do not break the fast in the Hanafi school, even if you taste them in your throat. Nasal sprays and nose drops do break it. Ear drops break the fast according to the classical Hanafi texts, which most Hanafi muftis follow, though some contemporary scholars say they do not when the eardrum is intact.
- Does using an inhaler break your fast?Yes, according to the mainstream Hanafi fatwa an asthma inhaler breaks the fast, because a medicine is taken in through the mouth into the throat and lungs. If you need it, use it and make up the day later. Some contemporary scholars, mostly in the Hanbali tradition, hold that an inhaler does not break the fast.
- Do injections or IV drips break your fast?No. In the Hanafi school injections into a muscle, a vein or under the skin, such as insulin, vaccines and antibiotics, do not break the fast, because they do not enter through an open passage. Most Hanafi muftis say the same of IV drips, but a nutritional drip taken just to ease the fast is disliked, and some scholars say it breaks the fast.
- Does bleeding or a blood test break your fast?No. Bleeding from a cut, a nosebleed, bleeding gums, a blood test or giving blood does not break the fast in the Hanafi school. It breaks only if you swallow blood that equals or outweighs your saliva. Giving a large amount of blood is disliked if it will weaken you. The Hanbali school holds that cupping (hijama) breaks the fast.
- Does vomiting break your fast?Vomiting that happens by itself does not break the fast, however much comes out. Making yourself vomit breaks it in the Hanafi school when it is a mouthful, and you make up one day with no kaffarah. The other three schools say deliberate vomiting breaks the fast whatever the amount.
- Can you swim or shower while fasting?Yes. Showering, bathing and swimming are allowed while fasting, and cooling off with water is not disliked in the Hanafi school. But if water goes down your throat by accident, the Hanafi school counts the fast as broken and you make up one day, so avoid diving and swimming underwater. Water in the ears does not break the fast.
- Can you chew gum or taste food while fasting?Ordinary chewing gum breaks the fast, because its sugar, sweeteners and flavour dissolve and are swallowed. Tasting food with the tip of the tongue and spitting it out does not break the fast, but in the Hanafi school it is makruh unless there is a need, such as a cook checking the salt.
- Does vaping or smoking break your fast?Yes. Smoking cigarettes or shisha, and vaping, break the fast in all four schools, because you deliberately draw a substance into your mouth and throat. In the Hanafi school, doing it on purpose during a Ramadan fast requires qada and also kaffarah, since it is something the body craves.
- Does kissing break your fast?No. Kissing or touching your spouse does not break the fast unless it leads to ejaculation. In the Hanafi school it is makruh if you fear it will lead further, and fine if you are sure of yourself. Pre-seminal fluid (madhi) does not break the fast in the Hanafi school, though the Maliki and Hanbali schools differ.
- Does a wet dream break your fast?No. A wet dream does not break the fast in any of the four schools, because it happens in sleep without your choice. You need to do ghusl before your next prayer, and your fast carries on. Waking up in a state of janabah (major impurity) after fajr does not affect the fast either.
- What happens if you accidentally eat or drink while fasting?If you ate or drank because you forgot you were fasting, your fast is still valid: stop as soon as you remember and carry on, with nothing to make up. If it was a mistake while you knew you were fasting, such as water slipping down during wudu, the Hanafi school counts the fast as broken and you make up one day.
- What happens if you break your fast on purpose?If you deliberately eat, drink or have intercourse during a Ramadan fast without a valid excuse, the Hanafi school requires sincere repentance, one day of qada and kaffarah: fasting sixty days in a row, or feeding sixty poor people if you truly cannot fast. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools require kaffarah only for intercourse.
- What is fidya in Islam?Fidya is the payment made for each Ramadan fast by someone who cannot fast and has no realistic hope of making it up, such as a very elderly person or someone with a permanent illness. In the Hanafi school it is half a sa' of wheat (about 1.6 to 2 kg) or its value for each fast, given to the poor.
- Do you need to make niyyah every night in Ramadan?Yes, in the Hanafi school each day of Ramadan needs its own intention, but it is only a decision in the heart and can be made any time from sunset until before midday, as long as you have not eaten. Waking for suhoor counts as intention. Make-up and kaffarah fasts need an intention before fajr.
- Is your fast valid if you miss suhoor?Yes. Suhoor is a sunnah, not a condition of the fast, so if you oversleep you still fast that day. In the Hanafi school the intention can be made after you wake, as long as it is before midday and you have not eaten. If you ate after fajr had begun without realising, the fast is broken: you make up that day and still hold back from food for the rest of it.
- Can you skip fasting if you are sick?Yes, if fasting would make your illness worse, slow your recovery or cause you serious harm. You make up the missed days when you are well. If the illness is permanent and you will never be able to fast, you pay fidya instead. A minor cold or headache is not normally an excuse.
- Do you have to fast while travelling?No. A traveller on a journey of about 77 km (48 miles) or more may skip the fast and make it up later, though the Hanafi school says fasting is better if it causes no hardship. You must have left your town before fajr: if you begin the day at home, you complete that day's fast.
- Can you skip fasting while pregnant or breastfeeding?Yes, if fasting would harm you or your baby. A pregnant or breastfeeding woman who has a reasonable fear of harm, based on experience or a doctor's advice, may leave the fast and make up the days later. In the Hanafi school there is no fidya, only qada. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools add fidya when the fear is only for the baby.
- When do you have to make up missed fasts?In the Hanafi school, missed Ramadan fasts can be made up at any time, on separate days or in a row, but you should not delay without reason. If the next Ramadan comes first, you still simply make them up, with no extra fidya. The other three schools add one fidya per day if you delayed past the next Ramadan without an excuse.
- Can you fast on a Friday or Saturday alone?It is better not to single out Friday for a voluntary fast: the Prophet ﷺ told us to fast a day before or after it. Many Hanafi scholars call fasting Friday alone makruh tanzihi (mildly disliked), and the Hanafi texts say the same of Saturday. The dislike goes if you add a day next to it, or if the day is Arafah, Ashura, a qada fast or part of a routine.
- Is it sunnah to fast on Mondays, Thursdays and the white days?Yes. Fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, and on the three white days (the 13th, 14th and 15th of each Islamic month), are well-established sunnah fasts. They are mustahabb (recommended) in the Hanafi school and in all four schools. Three days a month carry the reward of fasting the whole month.
- Is it sunnah to fast on the Day of Arafah?Yes. For anyone not performing Hajj, fasting on the Day of Arafah (9 Dhul Hijjah) is a highly recommended sunnah, which the Prophet ﷺ said expiates the sins of the previous year and the coming year. Pilgrims standing at Arafah are advised not to fast, so they have strength for dua.
- Can you fast only on the 10th of Muharram?Yes, the fast is valid and rewarded, but the Hanafi school says fasting the 10th alone is makruh tanzihi. The sunnah is to add the 9th, or the 11th if you missed the 9th, as the Prophet ﷺ intended to do. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools see no dislike in fasting the 10th alone, though they too prefer adding the 9th.
- Can you combine qada and Shawwal fasts?Not in the Hanafi school: one fast cannot count both as a make-up fast and as one of the six days of Shawwal. If you intend both, it counts as qada. Because the Hanafi school allows qada at any time, you may fast the six days of Shawwal first and make up your missed Ramadan days later.
- How many rakat is taraweeh?In the Hanafi school, taraweeh is 20 rakat, prayed in sets of two after Isha and usually before witr. It is a sunnah mu'akkadah (emphasised sunnah) for men and women. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools also say 20, the Maliki school accepts 20 or 36, and some scholars today pray 8.
- Can you pray taraweeh at home?Yes. Taraweeh prayed at home is valid and rewarded, alone or with your family in congregation. In the Hanafi school, praying it in congregation at the masjid is sunnah kifayah: as long as the masjid holds it, you are not sinful for praying at home, though men miss the extra reward of the masjid congregation.
- Can you leave the masjid during itikaf?Only for a real need. In the Hanafi school, a man in itikaf may leave the masjid to use the toilet, make wudu or an obligatory ghusl, fetch food if no one can bring it, and attend Jumuah if it is not held there. Leaving for anything else, even briefly, ends the sunnah itikaf of the last ten days, which is then made up for one day.
- How do you pray on Laylatul Qadr?There is no special prayer with a fixed number of rakat or surahs for Laylatul Qadr. You worship as on any night, but more: pray Isha and Fajr in congregation, pray taraweeh and extra nafl, recite Quran, make dhikr and istighfar, and repeat the dua the Prophet ﷺ taught: Allahumma innaka 'afuwwun tuhibbul 'afwa fa'fu 'anni.
- Can you skip fasting for exams or work?No. Exams, a demanding job or long shifts are not, by themselves, valid reasons to skip a Ramadan fast. You must begin the fast. If, during the day, you reach the point of real harm, such as severe dehydration or fainting, you may break it and make up one day later, with no kaffarah.
- How do you fast when the days are very long?You fast from true dawn (fajr) to sunset where you are, however long the day, as long as day and night both happen within 24 hours. If fasting that long would genuinely harm you, the rules for illness apply. Where true dawn cannot be seen, such as the far north in summer, scholars estimate the times, and you follow a reliable local timetable.