There are new things in Ramadan: eye drops and nutritional injections. What is the ruling on them?
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The questioner : There are new things in Ramadan: eye drops and nutritional injections. What is the ruling on them, O honorable Shaykh? May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. As for what follows, since we are welcoming the blessed month of Ramadan, the month of fasting and standing in night prayer and reciting the Qur'an, I advise my Muslim brothers to seize the opportunity of this blessed month by performing many righteous deeds based on sincerity to Allah the Exalted and following His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), such as prayer, charity, and guarding the fast from what invalidates it or diminishes it, and being kind to creation. For Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, loves those who do good. I urge them to stay away from the sins of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, whether in forbidden speech or forbidden action, especially on the days of fasting, because the wisdom behind the obligation of fasting is the mindfulness of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:183] And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Bulugh al-Maram 5:14.
I urge them to avoid what many people do in this blessed month, where they make its nights an occasion for amusement and wasting time, and its days an occasion for sleeping and laziness regarding good deeds and performing acts of obedience. Especially since this year, the year 1411, the weather will be very suitable, as it is at the beginning of spring, making fasting easy due to the mildness of the weather and the shortness of the day. This helps a person to perfect his fasting and to be earnest in doing good and leaving what is wrong.
As for answering the questioner's question, the questioner is asking about injections, infusions, drops, and the like, meaning whether they invalidate the fast or not. We say: These drops that are put in the eye or the ear, as well as injections and infusions, do not break the fast. This is because the original ruling is that the fast remains valid until there is evidence from the Shari'ah, from the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), or the consensus of the Muslims, or valid analogical reasoning based on what is established, that this thing invalidates the fast. There is no evidence that these things mentioned by the questioner invalidate the fast, neither from the Book nor the Sunnah nor consensus nor valid analogical reasoning. They are not eating or drinking, nor are they the equivalent of eating and drinking. If they are not eating or drinking, nor the equivalent of eating and drinking, then they do not invalidate the fast, because what invalidates the fast is eating and drinking, and what evidence indicates invalidates it besides that. These things are not eating or drinking.
They are also not the equivalent of eating and drinking, so they do not take their place. If the wording, meaning the wording of the text, does not include them, neither by linguistic indication nor by analogical indication, then they do not fall under what the text has brought. Accordingly, it is permissible for the fasting person, whether his fast is obligatory or voluntary, to put drops in his eyes and in his ears, and to use injections. However, if the injections are nutritional such that one can dispense with eating and drinking because of them, then they break the fast, because they are the equivalent of eating and drinking. And what is the equivalent of what is explicitly stated has the same ruling as it, because the Lawgiver does not differentiate between two similar things, nor does He combine two different things. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. As for what follows, since we are welcoming the blessed month of Ramadan, the month of fasting and standing in night prayer and reciting the Qur'an, I advise my Muslim brothers to seize the opportunity of this blessed month by performing many righteous deeds based on sincerity to Allah the Exalted and following His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), such as prayer, charity, and guarding the fast from what invalidates it or diminishes it, and being kind to creation. For Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, loves those who do good. I urge them to stay away from the sins of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, whether in forbidden speech or forbidden action, especially on the days of fasting, because the wisdom behind the obligation of fasting is the mindfulness of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as Allah the Exalted said:
O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءامَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَWhoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions and does not abandon foolishness, Allah is not in need of his leaving food and drink
من لم يدع قول الزور والعمل به والجهل فليس لله حاجة في أن يدع طعامه وشرابهI urge them to avoid what many people do in this blessed month, where they make its nights an occasion for amusement and wasting time, and its days an occasion for sleeping and laziness regarding good deeds and performing acts of obedience. Especially since this year, the year 1411, the weather will be very suitable, as it is at the beginning of spring, making fasting easy due to the mildness of the weather and the shortness of the day. This helps a person to perfect his fasting and to be earnest in doing good and leaving what is wrong.
As for answering the questioner's question, the questioner is asking about injections, infusions, drops, and the like, meaning whether they invalidate the fast or not. We say: These drops that are put in the eye or the ear, as well as injections and infusions, do not break the fast. This is because the original ruling is that the fast remains valid until there is evidence from the Shari'ah, from the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), or the consensus of the Muslims, or valid analogical reasoning based on what is established, that this thing invalidates the fast. There is no evidence that these things mentioned by the questioner invalidate the fast, neither from the Book nor the Sunnah nor consensus nor valid analogical reasoning. They are not eating or drinking, nor are they the equivalent of eating and drinking. If they are not eating or drinking, nor the equivalent of eating and drinking, then they do not invalidate the fast, because what invalidates the fast is eating and drinking, and what evidence indicates invalidates it besides that. These things are not eating or drinking.
They are also not the equivalent of eating and drinking, so they do not take their place. If the wording, meaning the wording of the text, does not include them, neither by linguistic indication nor by analogical indication, then they do not fall under what the text has brought. Accordingly, it is permissible for the fasting person, whether his fast is obligatory or voluntary, to put drops in his eyes and in his ears, and to use injections. However, if the injections are nutritional such that one can dispense with eating and drinking because of them, then they break the fast, because they are the equivalent of eating and drinking. And what is the equivalent of what is explicitly stated has the same ruling as it, because the Lawgiver does not differentiate between two similar things, nor does He combine two different things. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.