What breaks the fast, and what does not
The fast runs from dawn to sunset. Here are the things that break it, the things that do not, and the modern questions on which scholars differ.
أُحِلَّ لَكُمۡ لَيۡلَةَ ٱلصِّيَامِ ٱلرَّفَثُ إِلَىٰ نِسَآئِكُمۡۚ هُنَّ لِبَاسٞ لَّكُمۡ وَأَنتُمۡ لِبَاسٞ لَّهُنَّۗ عَلِمَ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّكُمۡ كُنتُمۡ تَخۡتَانُونَ أَنفُسَكُمۡ فَتَابَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَعَفَا عَنكُمۡۖ فَٱلۡـَٰٔنَ بَٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَٱبۡتَغُواْ مَا كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمۡۚ وَكُلُواْ وَٱشۡرَبُواْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ ٱلۡخَيۡطُ ٱلۡأَبۡيَضُ مِنَ ٱلۡخَيۡطِ ٱلۡأَسۡوَدِ مِنَ ٱلۡفَجۡرِۖ ثُمَّ أَتِمُّواْ ٱلصِّيَامَ إِلَى ٱلَّيۡلِۚ وَلَا تُبَٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمۡ عَٰكِفُونَ فِي ٱلۡمَسَٰجِدِۗ تِلۡكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ فَلَا تَقۡرَبُوهَاۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَتَّقُونَ ﴿١٨٧﴾
Ohilla lakum laylata alssiyami alrrafathu ila nisaikum hunna libasun lakum waantum libasun lahunna ʿalima Allahu annakum kuntum takhtanoona anfusakum fataba ʿalaykum waʿafa ʿankum faalana bashiroohunna waibtaghoo ma kataba Allahu lakum wakuloo waishraboo hatta yatabayyana lakumu alkhaytu alabyadu mina alkhayti alaswadi mina alfajri thumma atimmoo alssiyama ila allayli wala tubashiroohunna waantum ʿakifoona fee almasajidi tilka hudoodu Allahi fala taqrabooha kathalika yubayyinu Allahu ayatihi lilnnasi laʿallahum yattaqoona
It has been made permissible for you the night preceding fasting to go to your wives [for sexual relations]. They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them. Allah knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He accepted your repentance and forgave you. So now, have relations with them and seek that which Allah has decreed for you. 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 the sunset. And do not have relations with them as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques. These are the limits [set by] Allah, so do not approach them. Thus does Allah make clear His ordinances to the people that they may become righteous
Quran 2:187 · Surah Al-Baqara · Translation: Saheeh International · Transliteration: Tanzil.net
What breaks the fast
- Eating and drinking deliberately, including smoking
- Sexual intercourse during the day: besides making up the day, it requires an expiation (kaffarah), according to the hadith fasting two consecutive months (al-Bukhari, Muslim)
- Deliberate vomiting (Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi)
- Menstruation and post-natal bleeding, even shortly before sunset
- Nourishing injections or drips, which replace food
What does not break the fast
Whoever forgets that he is fasting and eats or drinks, let him complete his fast, for it is Allah who fed him and gave him drink.
Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim
- Eating or drinking by mistake or forgetfulness
- Unintentional vomiting
- Brushing the teeth, miswak, rinsing the mouth (without swallowing water)
- Showering and swimming, as long as no water is swallowed
- Blood tests and non-nourishing injections such as vaccines or insulin, according to most contemporary scholars
- Tasting food with the tip of the tongue without swallowing, when needed
- A wet dream
Questions on which scholars differ
- Eye and ear drops: do not break the fast in the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools; in the Maliki and Hanbali schools they do if the taste reaches the throat.
- Asthma inhalers: many contemporary scholars and fiqh councils say they do not break the fast, as they do not reach the stomach as food; others say they do.
- Toothpaste: allowed, but disliked by many because it is easy to swallow.
- Cupping and blood donation: break the fast in the Hanbali school, not in the others.
When you are unsure, ask a scholar you trust. Whoever is ill and fasting harms them is allowed not to fast and makes it up later (Quran 2:184).
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Frequently asked questions
Does swallowing saliva break the fast?
No. Swallowing your own saliva does not break the fast. Deliberately swallowing phlegm that has reached the mouth is avoided.
Does using a nasal spray break the fast?
Liquid that is sprayed and reaches the throat breaks the fast according to most classical scholars, because the nose was treated like the mouth in the hadith on rinsing the nose. Many contemporary scholars excuse a small amount of medical spray.
This article was written with the help of AI. Quran verses are inserted directly from the Quran text (translation: Saheeh International); it is general information, not a religious ruling (fatwa). For your own situation, ask a qualified scholar. Found a mistake? Write to support@hadaff.de.