Ruling on Applying Kohl and Using Eye or Ear Drops While Fasting

Source: Fatāwā Arkan-e-Islam

✦ The Question

What is the Shar‘i ruling on applying kohl (surmah) and using eye or ear drops while fasting? Does this affect the fast?

✦ Shar‘i Answer

Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, Ammā Baʿd!

✔ There is no harm in applying surmah (کحل) while fasting.
✔ Similarly, using drops in the eye or ear during the fast is permissible, even if their taste is felt in the throat.

✦ Reasoning:

◈ These substances:

✔ Are not considered food or drink,
✔ Do not fall under the category of nourishment,
✔ And thus, do not invalidate the fast.

❖ The only prohibited things during fasting are acts that involve eating, drinking, or their equivalents.
Therefore, applying kohl or using non-digestive medicinal drops cannot be treated as breaking the fast.

✦ Statement of Imam Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله):

The great scholar Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) also held this view —
that kohl and similar non-nutritive applications do not affect the validity of the fast,
and this is considered the correct and sound opinion.

✦ Exception: Nasal Drops

⚠ However, if someone uses nasal drops and the medicine reaches the stomach,
➤ In that case, the fast is broken.

✦ Evidence:

The Prophet ﷺ said:

«بَالِغْ فِي الاسْتِنْشَاقِ إِلَّا أَنْ تَكُونَ صَائِمًا»
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Ḥadīth: 142; Sunan al-Nasā’ī, Ḥadīth: 87)

“Exaggerate in rinsing the nose — except when you are fasting.”

◈ This Hadith implies caution regarding what enters through the nose while fasting,
as the nose can serve as a direct path to the stomach.

✔ Conclusion:

✅ The fast remains valid when using surmah, eye or ear drops.
⚠ Use caution with nasal applications, as they can invalidate the fast if the substance reaches the stomach.

ھٰذَا مَا عِندِي وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ