If I rinse my mouth while fasting and some water enters my throat, does that mean I have broken my fast? And how should one rinse in this case?

The questioner : When performing ablution while fasting, if water enters the throat during rinsing, does that mean I have broken my fast? And how should one rinse in this case?

The Shaykh : Rinsing for the fasting person is done just as it is for the non-fasting person; that is, he puts water in his mouth, passes it around, and then spits it out. In this case, if the fasting person has some of this water enter his stomach without his intention, he does not break his fast by it, because the conditions for breaking the fast with things that break it are three: first, that the person be knowledgeable; second, that he be mindful; and third, that he be willing and intending.
As for knowledge, its opposite is ignorance. If a person consumes something that breaks the fast while ignorant that it breaks the fast, or ignorant that it is daytime, and it becomes clear to him afterwards, then his fast is valid. For example, if a person gets cupped while not knowing that cupping breaks the fast, or if he gets cupped while not knowing that cupping breaks the fast for the fasting person, then in this case his fast is not invalidated because he is ignorant.
Similarly, if a person eats and drinks thinking that the dawn has not yet appeared, and then it becomes clear to him that the dawn has appeared, he owes no make-up fast. And if a person is in a place where he does not hear the call to prayer and the sky is cloudy, so he thinks the sun has set and breaks his fast, but then it becomes clear to him afterwards that the sun has not set, he owes no make-up fast because he is ignorant. And in "Sahih al-Bukhari", Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "We broke our fast in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on a cloudy day, then the sun appeared, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not order them to make it up." If making it up had been obligatory, he would have ordered them to do so, and if he had ordered them to do so, it would have been transmitted, because when he orders it, it becomes part of the Shari'ah of Allah, and the Shari'ah of Allah the Exalted must be preserved and transmitted to the servants of Allah.
As for our saying that it is a condition for the invalidation of the fast by things that break it that the fasting person be mindful, this is because the opposite of mindfulness is forgetfulness. If a person eats or drinks while fasting and he is forgetful, then his fast is valid, based on the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
As for the condition that the fasting person be willing and intending, this is because one who is not willing and intending bears no sin, and if the sin is negated, the ruling of the act is negated. The evidence for this is the saying of the Exalted: If the ruling of disbelief, which is the greatest of sins, is negated by coercion, then what is less than it is even more so. This is because the coerced person does not intend the thing. So if something that breaks the fast happens to a person without his intention, such as if he rinses his mouth and water goes down into his stomach, he owes no make-up fast because it was without his choice. Yes.