The Ruling on Using an Asthma Inhaler While Fasting

Summary:

Answer:

In the name of Allah, all praise is due to Allah, and may Peace and Blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)

The asthma inhaler is a container that contains liquid medicine composed of three elements, medicinal chemicals, water, and oxygen.

When the inhaler is pressed, the medicine comes out in the form of a spray. When the patient takes a deep breath at the time of pressing the inhaler, this spray enters the trachea, but part of it remains in the oral pharynx, and a very small amount may enter the esophagus.

Some contemporary scholars have held that using the asthma inhaler invalidates the fast. They said that the contents of the inhaler reach the stomach through the mouth, so it is a nullifier.

Most contemporary scholars have held that using this inhaler does not invalidate the fast, and this opinion is the correct one. They supported this with several evidences:

The original ruling is the validity of fasting, and it is not permissible to move away from this original ruling except with certainty. The reaching of some spray from this inhaler to the stomach is doubtful. It may enter the stomach and it may not enter, because the original assumption is that this substance goes to the respiratory system. With this possibility, it is not permissible to say that the fast is invalid. In this way, the proof of the first opinion is answered.

Even if we assume that part of this medicine actually reaches the stomach, it is excused and does not invalidate the fast, by analogy with rinsing the mouth and using the siwak.

As for rinsing the mouth, when a fasting person rinses his mouth, some water remains in his mouth, and part of this water descends to the stomach. If he rinsed with water containing a radioactive substance, that radioactive substance would appear in the stomach shortly after, which confirms that some rinsing water reaches the stomach. However, this portion that descends to the stomach is a small amount that the law has excused, and fasting remains valid with rinsing. The portion that descends from the asthma inhaler to the stomach, if it descends, is less than the portion that descends with rinsing, so it does not invalidate the fast even more so.

As for the siwak, it contains substances that dissolve with saliva and descend to the throat then to the stomach. The law has excused this and did not consider it invalidating the fast because it is small and not intended. Likewise, the portion that may descend to the stomach from the asthma inhaler is small and not intended to reach the stomach, so it does not invalidate the fast by analogy with the siwak.

This shows the strength of the second opinion. It was chosen by Shaykh ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn Baz رحمه الله, Shaykh Muhammad ibn al ʿUthaymin رحمه الله, Shaykh ʿAbdullah ibn Jibrin رحمه الله, and the scholars of the Permanent Committee. Some of their fatwas were mentioned in answer to question number 37650.

See Islamic Fiqh Council Journal, Volume 10, in which there are several research papers about contemporary nullifiers of fasting, and Contemporary Nullifiers of Fasting by Dr Ahmad al Khalil, pages 33 to 38.

Second Matter, Clarifying the Point of Dispute

Asthma inhalers are not one type. They differ according to their composition and the nature of their substance. The ruling depends on understanding their reality.

First, the inhaler that is only compressed oxygen

If the inhaler is merely air or compressed oxygen, and does not contain medicinal substance that has physical mass that settles in the internal cavity, and nothing from it reaches the stomach,

Then it does not break the fast, because

It is not food or drink

Nor in the meaning of food or drink

Nor does it reach the stomach in the form of nourishment or strengthening

Second, the inhaler that contains medicinal substance with physical mass

If the inhaler contains tangible medicinal substance that has physical mass, and this substance reaches the throat then the stomach, and that occurs intentionally from the fasting person,

Then it breaks the fast, because the ruling depends on the reaching of something that has physical mass to the internal cavity by the will of the fasting person.