25th April 2016
السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
Question. Does ear drops break the Fast?
الجواب حامداً و مصلياً
In the Name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer
Most of the classical Hanafi works consider applying medicine or oil into the ears to break the fast because it was assumed in those days that the ear canal was directly linked with the brain (whilst some asserted the cavity even reaching to the stomach), inevitably causing the medicine or oil to reach the brain (or stomach).[1] As a point of principle, anything reaching the brain breaches the Fast just as a substance reaches the stomach or intestine does so through its normal channel.[2] However, contemporary scholars such as Shaykh Khalid Saifullah Rahmani and others are not in full agreement with this ruling because modern medical research suggests that there is no direct link between the ear and the brain (unless the eardrum is perforated – punctured with a hole which is seldom the case), even though he suggests making Qadha as a precaution.[3] Nevertheless, a fasting person is not obliged to make Qadha by inserting eardrops into the ear and the fast is justifiably valid.
[Allãh Knows Best]
Written by (Mufti) Abdul Waheed
Answer Attested by Shaykh Mufti Saiful Islam
JKN Fatawa Department
[1] Durrul Mukhtar wa Shāmi Kitāb Sawm, Bāb Ma yufsidu Sawm wa ma la Yufsidu p. 367 vol 3
وَفَصَّلَ فِي الْخَانِيَّةِ بِأَنَّهُ إنْ دَخَلَ لَا يُفْسِدُ وَإِنْ أَدْخَلَهُ يَفْسُدُ فِي الصَّحِيحِ؛ لِأَنَّهُ وَصَلَ إلَى الْجَوْفِ بِفِعْلِهِ فَلَا يُعْتَبَرُ فِيهِ صَلَاحُ الْبَدَنِ، وَمِثْلُهُ فِي الْبَزَّازِيَّةِ وَاسْتَظْهَرَهُ فِي الْفَتْحِ وَالْبُرْهَانِ شُرُنْبُلَالِيَّةٌ مُلَخَّصًا. وَالْحَاصِلُ الِاتِّفَاقُ عَلَى الْفِطْرِ بِصَبِّ الدُّهْنِ وَعَلَى عَدَمِهِ بِدُخُولِ الْمَاءِ.
Hidayah Kitābus Sawm Bāb Ma yujib Qadha wa Kaffarāh p. 123 vol 1 (Maktab-e-Shamila)
” ومن احتقن أو استعط أو أقطر في أذنه أفطر ” لقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم ” الفطر مما دخل ولوجود معنى الفطر وهو وصول ما فيه صلاح البدن إلى الجوف
[2] Fatawa hindiyyah Kitāb Sawm Bāb Ma yufsidu Sawm wa ma la Yufsidu p. 204 vol 1
وَفِي دَوَاءِ الْجَائِفَةِ وَالْآمَّةِ أَكْثَرُ الْمَشَايِخِ عَلَى أَنَّ الْعِبْرَةَ لِلْوُصُولِ إلَى الْجَوْفِ وَالدِّمَاغِ لَا لِكَوْنِهِ رَطْبًا أَوْ يَابِسًا
[3] Jadeed Fiqhi Ml Khalid p. 186 vol 1