Ibn Majah

1؎ : This hadith has reached the level of tawatur (mass transmission), and it is a clear text that both the one who performs cupping (hijama) and the one on whom it is performed have their fast invalidated. Most jurists among the scholars of hadith, such as Ahmad, Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, Ibn Khuzaymah, and Ibn al-Mundhir, hold this view, and it has also been adopted by the verifying scholars such as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim. This view is correct and in accordance with analogy (qiyas); cupping is like vomiting. When someone vomits deliberately, the fast is invalidated by vomiting. However, Malik, Abu Hanifah, al-Shafi‘i, and the majority of scholars consider it permissible, and they have various interpretations regarding this hadith. One opinion is that the meaning of «أفطر الحاجم والمحجوم» is that both of them have exposed themselves to breaking the fast, or have come close to it: the one who is cupped due to weakness and debility, and the one performing cupping because it is difficult to avoid, as when he is sucking the blood, a drop may enter his throat and thus break his fast. Another opinion is that this hadith is abrogated (mansukh), and the abrogating narration is that of Anas radi Allahu anhu, which has been narrated by al-Daraqutni: «رخص النبي بعد في الحجامة للصائم وكان أنس يحتجم وهو صائم».