❀ Ruling on Using Toothpaste During Fasting ❀
✦ Written by: Shaykh Mubashir Ahmad Rabbani (حفظه الله)
Does using toothpaste break the fast?
Using toothpaste to clean the teeth during fasting does not invalidate the fast, just as using miswak does not break it.
Similarly, eye and ear drops may also be used during fasting. If the taste of the drops is felt in the throat, then as a matter of precaution, one should make up the fast (Qada), but it is not obligatory, because the eyes and ears are not passageways for food or drink.
However, nasal drops are not permissible during fasting, as the nose is considered a route to the stomach. This is why the Prophet ﷺ said:
"Exaggerate in sniffing water into the nose (during ablution), unless you are fasting."
Therefore, in light of this Hadith and other similar narrations, if a person uses nasal drops while fasting and feels its effect in the throat, then making up that fast becomes obligatory (Qada Wajib).
① Using toothpaste during fasting ❖ Permissible
② Using miswak during fasting ❖ Permissible
③ Using eye or ear drops ❖ Permissible, Qada not obligatory even if tasted
④ Using nasal drops ❖ Not permissible, Qada becomes obligatory if effect is felt in the throat
✦ Written by: Shaykh Mubashir Ahmad Rabbani (حفظه الله)
❖ Question:
Does using toothpaste break the fast?
❖ Answer:
Using toothpaste to clean the teeth during fasting does not invalidate the fast, just as using miswak does not break it.
Similarly, eye and ear drops may also be used during fasting. If the taste of the drops is felt in the throat, then as a matter of precaution, one should make up the fast (Qada), but it is not obligatory, because the eyes and ears are not passageways for food or drink.
However, nasal drops are not permissible during fasting, as the nose is considered a route to the stomach. This is why the Prophet ﷺ said:
"Exaggerate in sniffing water into the nose (during ablution), unless you are fasting."
Therefore, in light of this Hadith and other similar narrations, if a person uses nasal drops while fasting and feels its effect in the throat, then making up that fast becomes obligatory (Qada Wajib).
✔ Key Rulings:
① Using toothpaste during fasting ❖ Permissible
② Using miswak during fasting ❖ Permissible
③ Using eye or ear drops ❖ Permissible, Qada not obligatory even if tasted
④ Using nasal drops ❖ Not permissible, Qada becomes obligatory if effect is felt in the throat
