I suffer from frequent colds, phlegm, and mucus, and I swallow the phlegm and mucus. I find it very difficult to avoid them. Does swallowing them break the fast?
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The questioner : May the Shaykh be respected, I suffer from frequent colds, phlegm, and mucus, and I swallow the phlegm and mucus. I find it very difficult to avoid them. Does swallowing them break the fast? I ask you to provide a detailed explanation of this.
The Shaykh : The answer is that this question is frequently asked by some people. A person may be ill and have a lot of phlegm, and you will find him trying to expel the phlegm. This is one of the obsessions (waswas). If the phlegm is in the throat and goes down into the stomach, it has no effect and does no harm. It is not befitting for a person to try to bring it out. However, if it comes out until it reaches the mouth and then he swallows it, there are two opinions among the scholars: these are two opinions in the school of Imam Ahmad. One opinion is that it breaks the fast because phlegm is not customary like saliva. Unlike saliva, if a person collects saliva and swallows it, it does not break the fast.
The second opinion is that phlegm does not break the fast, even if it reaches the mouth, because this is not considered eating or drinking, neither by custom nor by the Shari'ah. The original ruling is that the fast is valid until evidence establishes its invalidity. However, I say that the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) state that if phlegm reaches the mouth, it is forbidden to swallow it for both the fasting person and the non-fasting person. They reasoned this by saying that it is disgusting, and a disgusting thing is something from which one's nature recoils, making it impure. This falls under the general meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-A'raf 7:157]. And I say that if phlegm or mucus reaches the mouth, the person suffering from it should try to expel it from his mouth, whether he is fasting or not, because swallowing it may be harmful to him. But if it is in the throat, he should not strain to expel it, as some people with obsessions do. When they feel phlegm at the back of the throat, they strain to bring it out, and this is one of the obsessions from which one is forbidden.
The Shaykh : The answer is that this question is frequently asked by some people. A person may be ill and have a lot of phlegm, and you will find him trying to expel the phlegm. This is one of the obsessions (waswas). If the phlegm is in the throat and goes down into the stomach, it has no effect and does no harm. It is not befitting for a person to try to bring it out. However, if it comes out until it reaches the mouth and then he swallows it, there are two opinions among the scholars: these are two opinions in the school of Imam Ahmad. One opinion is that it breaks the fast because phlegm is not customary like saliva. Unlike saliva, if a person collects saliva and swallows it, it does not break the fast.
The second opinion is that phlegm does not break the fast, even if it reaches the mouth, because this is not considered eating or drinking, neither by custom nor by the Shari'ah. The original ruling is that the fast is valid until evidence establishes its invalidity. However, I say that the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) state that if phlegm reaches the mouth, it is forbidden to swallow it for both the fasting person and the non-fasting person. They reasoned this by saying that it is disgusting, and a disgusting thing is something from which one's nature recoils, making it impure. This falls under the general meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: