Does eye kohl and injections break the fast of the one fasting in Ramadan?

The questioner : The questioner asks: Does applying eye kohl during the day in Ramadan break the fast?

The Shaykh : Yes. We say that applying kohl to the eye, putting drops in the eye, and putting drops in the ear, none of these break the fast of the one who is fasting. If someone asks, “What is your evidence that it does not break the fast?” we say that the evidence is required from the one who says it does break the fast. So if someone says that these things break the fast, we ask him, “Where is the evidence?” And there is no consensus among the Muslims, and these are the three principles. Likewise, there is no valid analogical reasoning that indicates that kohl or drops in the eye or drops in the ear break the fast. So there is no Book, no Sunnah, no consensus, and no valid analogical reasoning that indicates that these things break the fast. The default is that this fasting person, who fasted by the command of Allah and in accordance with the will of Allah, his fast is valid and complete. It is not permissible for us to invalidate the worship of the Muslims except with evidence that serves as a proof for us before the Lord of the Worlds. As for invalidating the worship of the Muslims with matters in which the truth is not clear, this is not permissible, because it is speaking about Allah without knowledge and corrupting the worship of the Muslims without evidence.
On this occasion, I also wish to add to the answer. We also say that the injections taken by the fasting person do not break his fast, whether these injections are injected into the vein or into the muscles, because there is no evidence for the difference between these and those. The one in the muscles undoubtedly mixes with the body, just as the one in the vein mixes with the blood. But who says that the basis of the ruling in breaking the fast with such things is the mixing of these things with the blood? There is no evidence for this. Rather, what Allah mentioned in the Qur'an as things that break the fast are eating and drinking. So we restrict ourselves to what Allah mentioned and what is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in this matter, and we do not go beyond it. Because obliging making up the fast for one who is not required to make it up is like obliging breaking the fast for one who is not required to break it. That is, making the forbidden lawful is like making the lawful forbidden, and there is no difference between them. All of this is Shari'ah, so we must restrict ourselves to what came from the Shari'ah. Someone might say, "These reach the body, so they are things that break the fast like eating and drinking." Our answer to this is to say that not everything that reaches the body is a thing that breaks the fast, because the difference is clear between what reaches the body without nourishing the body and what reaches it with nourishment. What reaches the body without nourishment and is not eating or drinking cannot be equated with eating and drinking. The scholars mentioned this, and specifically the Hanbali jurists, that if a man smeared the sole of his foot with something and then found its taste in his throat, they said that it does not break the fast. They reasoned this by saying that the foot is not a customary passage to the body. So this is also like inserting needles into the limbs or muscles, which is not from the customary passages. Likewise, kohl is not from the customary passages, and the eye is not a path for eating or drinking, nor is the ear a path for eating or drinking. Unlike the nose, for if something is injected into the nose and reaches the stomach, it is like the mouth. As for nourishing injections.
As for the nourishing injections by which the patient is dispensed with food and drink, these are things that break the fast, because although they are not eating or drinking, they are in the meaning of eating and drinking, since the body is nourished by them and dispenses with eating and drinking by them. This is what we used to say and we were certain of it. However, an opponent might object and say, "I deny that the 'illah (operative cause) in eating and drinking is merely nourishment. I say that the 'illah in eating and drinking, in its being a thing that breaks the fast, is that it is nourishing for the body, and that the one who eats and drinks takes pleasure in it, with the desire of eating and drinking. So it combines two things: that it is pleasant and enjoyable, and that it is nourishing for the body. And these injections are not something that a person takes pleasure in when taking them. They contain part of the 'illah, which is nourishment, but they do not contain the complete 'illah."
I say to the opponent that he may object with that, but from the standpoint of precaution, we say that they obligate making up the fast for the one who took them while fasting, meaning the nourishing injections by which one is spared eating and drinking. The common case is that a person does not need them except when he is sick and is permitted to break his fast. So we say to him, take them. And if you are sick, you may drink if the doctors permit it, and you will be one who has broken the fast, so you make up what is upon you.