The Ruling on Non-Nutritive Injections.
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The Shaykh : Now, there are non-nutritive injections: injections for treatment, injections for stimulation, and injections for lowering blood sugar.
The questioner : Injections that are administered into the vein.
The Shaykh : Yes, various types. Do they break the fast or not?
The questioner : They do not break the fast.
The Shaykh : Why?
The questioner : Because they do not serve as a substitute for food and drink.
The Shaykh : And they are not food or drink, nor do they carry the meaning of food and drink. Well done. All injections do not break the fast, whether administered into the vein or the muscles, and whether for stimulation, strengthening, lowering blood sugar, or anything else. They do not break the fast because they do not serve as a substitute for food and drink, and they do not carry the meaning of food and drink. The original ruling is that the validity of the fast remains until evidence establishes its defect and invalidity.
The questioner : O Shaykh, one of the benefits of eating is providing strength.
The Shaykh : Even strength is obtained if a person is lazy and then becomes active; not everything that stimulates the body breaks the fast. The Shari'ah did not make the criterion for the ruling the stimulation of the body; rather, it made the criterion food and drink. And I told you last night that a person is in fear and anxiety if he says that injections which serve as a substitute for food and drink break the fast. That is, until we say, "We ask Allah to forgive us if we have invalidated the fasts of Allah's servants with these nutritive injections." For one might say that there is a difference between food and drink and these injections, which we pointed out last night. The difference is that the one who eats and drink takes pleasure in his food and drink, unlike the one who receives these injections. However, we mentioned that the more cautious opinion is that they break the fast, so that he may make up the fast and be free from blame.
The questioner : Injections that are administered into the vein.
The Shaykh : Yes, various types. Do they break the fast or not?
The questioner : They do not break the fast.
The Shaykh : Why?
The questioner : Because they do not serve as a substitute for food and drink.
The Shaykh : And they are not food or drink, nor do they carry the meaning of food and drink. Well done. All injections do not break the fast, whether administered into the vein or the muscles, and whether for stimulation, strengthening, lowering blood sugar, or anything else. They do not break the fast because they do not serve as a substitute for food and drink, and they do not carry the meaning of food and drink. The original ruling is that the validity of the fast remains until evidence establishes its defect and invalidity.
The questioner : O Shaykh, one of the benefits of eating is providing strength.
The Shaykh : Even strength is obtained if a person is lazy and then becomes active; not everything that stimulates the body breaks the fast. The Shari'ah did not make the criterion for the ruling the stimulation of the body; rather, it made the criterion food and drink. And I told you last night that a person is in fear and anxiety if he says that injections which serve as a substitute for food and drink break the fast. That is, until we say, "We ask Allah to forgive us if we have invalidated the fasts of Allah's servants with these nutritive injections." For one might say that there is a difference between food and drink and these injections, which we pointed out last night. The difference is that the one who eats and drink takes pleasure in his food and drink, unlike the one who receives these injections. However, we mentioned that the more cautious opinion is that they break the fast, so that he may make up the fast and be free from blame.