Monday 20 April 2020

Injections, Hypodermic Needles, Suppositories, Drops, Intravenous (IV) Drips and Dialysis while Fasting

A selection of fatawa from Naseem al-Sham
 

Question:

What is the ruling on taking suppositories and likewise eardrops and intravenous (IV) drips?

Answer (Imam ʿAbdur Raḥmān ash-Shāmī):

Suppositories break the fast. As for eardrops, they break the fast if they reach the oesophagus. As for an IV drip, if there is a necessity then you can take the opinion of the Shāfiʿīs and the two companions of Abū Ḥanīfah, which states that it does not break the fast. If the patient is able to delay using the drip until after maghrib, that would be better, out of regard for the difference of opinion.

Question:

What do you say about injections while fasting? Do injections break the fast or not?

Answer (Imam Muḥammad Tawfīq Ramaḍān):

Enemas break the fast, because something is being inserted into one of the body’s orifices. As for intramuscular and intravenous injections, they do not break the fast.[1]
 
Question:

Does an IV drip, which a patient takes intravenously instead of eating and drinking, break the fast or is breaking the fast confined to orifices? May Allah reward you with every goodness.

Answer (Imam Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān al-Būṭī):

IV drips do not break or nullify a person’s fast, even if they are satiating. The same ruling applies to injections that are given to a patient (intravenous, intramuscular or under the skin); as long as they do not enter the body through an orifice, they do not break the fast.

Question:

What is the ruling on dialysis while fasting? Does a person break his fast by going on dialysis?

Answer (Imam Rushdī Salīm al-Qalam):

If the physician has decided that the kidney patient, as is known, needs fluids throughout the day then he is obligated not to fast, in order to save himself from destruction.[2] As for the mere process of cleansing, this does not break the fast because it is the insertion of substances into the blood, and this does not fall under the matters that break the fast.


[1] (tn): There is a difference of opinion amongst the Shāfiʿīs. In at-Taqrīrāt as-Sadīdah: Qism al-ʿIbādāt, Sheikh Ḥasan al-Kāf says, ‘The ruling on needles: they are permissible in the case of necessity, but there are three different opinions as to whether they break someone’s fast:
1) They nullify the fast without exception, because they reach one’s interior.
2) They absolutely do not nullify the fast, because they reach one’s interior but not via an orifice.
3) This one contains some detail, and it is the most correct: If they are nourishing, they break the fast. If they are not nourishing, it depends:
- It they are intravenous, they nullify the fast.
- If they are intramuscular, they do not nullify the fast.’ (Tarīm: Dār al-Mīrāth an-Nabawī, p.452)
[2] (tn): Please see Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:195.

More Fatawa on Ramadan and Fasting

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