Fasting Ramadhan part 5

بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم
In the name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.


The Criterion for things which
invalidate the fast

The criterion as to whether something invalidates
the fast is ( whether it comes under any one of
three headings ) :

(1)  a substance, even if not much, that reaches
the body cavity through an open passageway
( substance excluding odors, and open excluding
anything else, such as absorption through pores).
( The deliberate introduction of anything besides
air or saliva into the body cavity breaks the fast,
though if the person fasting does so absentmind-
edly or under compulsion, it does not break it ) ;

(2)  sexual intercourse ( meaning inserting the head
of the penis into the vagina ) ;

(3)  or orgasm, whether as the result of touching
( such as kissing, contact, or something else ), or
because of masturbation ;

_ provided that one is aware that these acts are
unlawful and that one remembers one is fasting
( and provided they are done deliberately and
voluntarily ).

Things that do not break the fast

The fast remains valid if any of any of the things
which break it are done absentmindedly ( not
remembering the fast ), out of ignorance ( that
doing the things which break the fast are unlawful,
whether this is due to being a new Muslim, or to
being born and raised far from Islamic scholars ),
or under compulsion. Nor is it broken by :

(1)  involuntary vomiting ;

(2)  having a wet dream, or orgasm as a result of
thinking or looking at something ( unless the latter
two usually cause orgasm, in which case one one
has broken one's fast by not avoiding them ) ;

(3)  some water reaching the body cavity as a
result of rinsing out the mouth or nose, provided
not much water was used ;

(4)  saliva carrying down some food particles
from between one's teeth, provided this is after
having cleaned between them ( after eating, by
using a  toothpick or the like between them ), if
one is unable to spit them out ;

(5)  gathering saliva in the mouth and swallowing
it, bringing saliva as far forward as the tongue (
but not to the lips ) and then swallowing it, or
coughing up phlegm from the throat and spitting
it out ;

(6)  the arrival of dawn when there is food in one's
mouth which one spits out ;

(7)  the arrival of dawn when one is lovemaking and
one immediately disengages ;

(8)  or when one sleeps all day or has lost consciousness,
provided one regains consciousness for at least a moment
of the day.

Extracts from
Ahmad ibn Naqib al- Misri
Reliance of the Traveller
Tran .. Nuh Ha mim Keller