The Creed of Compassion-Islamic Teachings & Answering Doctrinal Misconceptions

Issue No. 1336- If a person eats or drinks something intentionally, his fast becomes void, and it is immaterial whether the things which he eats or drinks are usually eaten or drunk (e.g., bread and water) or not (for example, leaves of a tree) or whether it is more or less; even if a person, who is fasting, takes the tooth-brush out of his mouth and then puts it back into his mouth, swallowing its liquid, his fast will be void, unless the moisture in the tooth-brush is little and vanishes in the saliva.

Issue No. 1338- Eating and drinking inadvertently or forgetfully does not make fast invalid.

Issue No. 1339- All sorts of injections and vaccines whether medicinal or nutrient would not invalidate fast if they are injected in muscle, as is the case with intramuscular vaccines. But intravenous injection will make the fast void whether by serum or needle. In addition, blood transfusion will invalidate fast; one should refrain from invalidators till the end of the day, and as an obligatory precaution, make up for the fast of that day as well.

Issue No. 1340- If a person wishes to fast, it would be better for him to wash his teeth and use a toothpick before the fajr adhān. And if he knows that some particles of food have remained in between his teeth which will go down into his stomach during the day, the obligatory precaution is that he must clean his teeth and use a toothpick. If he does not wash his teeth and something enters the throat, he should complete the fast of that day and later perform it as qaḍā.

Issue No. 1341- Swallowing saliva does not invalidate fast, although it may have collected in one’s mouth owing to one’s thinking about sour things. There is no harm in swallowing one’s phlegm or mucous from the head and chest so long as it does not come up to one’s mouth. However, if it reaches one’s mouth, the obligatory precaution is that one should not swallow it.

Issue No. 1342- Chewing food to feed a child or tasting food, etc., or washing the mouth with water or a medicine will not invalidate the fast, if it is not swallowed. If it happens to reach the throat involuntarily, there would be no problem in it. However, if a person knows beforehand that it will reach there involuntarily, his fast will be void and he will have to make up that fast in addition to offering kaffāra (atonement).

Issue No. 1343- If a person observing fast becomes so thirsty that he will not be able to bear it and fears that he may become sick or die, he can drink water as much as it is necessary, however, his fast will become void, and if it is the month of Ramadan, he should, for the rest of the day, refrain from all invalidators of the fast.

Issue No. 1344- A person cannot terminate the fast on account of weakness. However, if his weakness is to such an extent that fasting becomes totally unbearable, there is no harm in breaking the fast. Also, he can break his fast, if he fears that he may become sick.

Issue No. 1346- If a person forgets that he is in the state of fasting and performs sexual intercourse or he is compelled to have sexual intercourse in such a situation that leaves him no option but to do so, his fast does not become void. However, if he remembers that while having sexual intercourse or the compulsion ends, he should withdraw from the sexual intercourse at once, and if he does not do so, his fast becomes void.

Issue No. 1347- If a person, who is observing fast, performs masturbation (Istimna), his fast becomes void. If semen is discharged involuntarily, while sleeping or awake, his fast does not become void.

Issue No. 1348- If a person who is fasting knows that if he sleeps during the daytime he will have a seminal discharge during sleep, it is permissible for him to sleep during the day, and in case there is a discharge, his fast does not become void.

Issue No. 1353- If a person who is fasting entertains himself romantically in a sexual manner with his wife without intending to discharge semen; if he is not used to having semen discharged as a result of playing and joking to this extent and semen is discharged unexpectedly, his fast is correct.