The basic rule

Allah tells us how long the fast lasts: eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes clear from the black thread of night. Then complete the fast until night¹.

• The fast runs from true dawn (when Fajr time starts) until sunset (when Maghrib time starts). See prayer times for your city.
• In that time, you keep away from three things: food, drink and intercourse. Allah says in the same ayah that intercourse with your wife is allowed on the nights of the fast, not the days².

For the meaning of Ramadan and its rewards, see our Fasting and Ramadan page.

What breaks the fast

These things break the fast when you do them on purpose, knowing you are fasting. If you forgot, see the section on forgetting below.

1. Eating and drinking

• Any food or drink, a little or a lot. Even a sip of water or one grape.
• Medicine by mouth, like tablets and syrups.
• Smoking and vaping.

2. Intercourse

• Intercourse during the day breaks the fast of both husband and wife, even if there is no climax.
• In Ramadan it needs a day made up and kaffarah. See below.

3. Releasing mani on purpose

• Mani (sexual fluid) released on purpose while awake, by kissing, touching or by your own hand, breaks the fast. You make up the day.
• A wet dream does not break the fast. You did not choose it. Just make ghusl.

4. Making yourself vomit

• Nabi ﷺ said: whoever is overcome by vomiting does not have to make up the fast, and whoever vomits on purpose must make it up³.
• Hanafis say it breaks the fast only if the vomit you caused was a mouthful.

5. Something reaching the stomach through an open passage

• The four schools say the fast breaks when something you could avoid enters the body through an open passage and reaches the throat or stomach. The main passages are the mouth and nose.
• So water or nose drops that you taste in your throat break the fast. The schools also count an enema through the back passage.

6. A period or bleeding after birth starting

• If a woman's period starts, or nifas (the bleeding after childbirth), her fast for that day ends, even a minute before sunset.
• Nabi ﷺ said that a woman on her period does not pray and does not fast⁴.
• She makes up the fasts later, but not the prayers⁵.. See Periods and bleeding after birth.

What does not break the fast

None of these break the fast:

• Eating or drinking because you forgot. Nabi ﷺ said: whoever forgets and eats or drinks, let him complete his fast, for it was Allah who fed him and gave him drink⁶.
• Waking up needing ghusl. Nabi ﷺ sometimes woke up junub (needing ghusl after intimacy) in Ramadan. He made ghusl and fasted that day⁷⁸. Just do not miss Fajr.
• Swallowing your own saliva.
• Brushing your teeth and using a miswak (a natural tooth-stick). Nabi ﷺ wanted his ummah to use the miswak at every prayer⁹. With toothpaste, do not swallow any.
• A shower, a bath or swimming, as long as you do not swallow water.
• Tasting food without swallowing it, for example a cook checking the salt. Spit it out and rinse. Most scholars allow it when there is a need. Hanafis say it is disliked without a need.
• Perfume, and creams on the skin.
• Bleeding from a cut, a nosebleed or a pulled tooth, as long as you do not swallow the blood.
• Blood tests.
• Kohl (eyeliner). Anas, the Companion, used kohl while fasting¹⁰. Hanafis and Shafi'is say it does not break the fast. Malikis and Hanbalis say it breaks the fast if you taste it in your throat.
• A wet dream, and mani that comes from a passing thought, without touching. Malikis and Hanbalis say that looking again and again until mani comes does break the fast.

Medicine and modern treatment

Inhalers and drips did not exist when the four schools wrote. Scholars today apply the old rules to them, and they do not all agree.

What to do

• Take medicine you need. If you can, move doses to suhur and iftar. Ask your doctor about this.
• Need an inhaler in the day? Use it. If you follow the view that it breaks the fast, make up the day later. If you need it every day, you may be excused from fasting like any sick person.
• Never fast against medical advice. Allah says: whoever is sick or on a journey, then the same number of other days¹¹. And: Allah wants ease for you, not hardship¹². See When you cannot fast.
• For your own case, ask a scholar you trust and your doctor.

Forgetting, mistakes and doubts

Allah taught us to pray: our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make a mistake¹³. And Nabi ﷺ said: Allah has forgiven my ummah for mistakes, forgetting, and what they are forced to do¹⁴. No sin is written for these, but some still need a day made up.

You forgot you were fasting

• You ate or drank, then remembered. Stop at once, spit out what is in your mouth, and carry on. Your fast is complete¹⁵. Most scholars say you do not make anything up.
• Malikis say: in a required fast, like Ramadan, you make up that day later. There is no sin.

You ate thinking it was still night

• If you ate thinking dawn had not come, then found out it had, the four schools say make up that day. There is no sin and no kaffarah.
• Not sure if dawn has come? You may eat until you are sure, because Allah said: until it becomes clear¹⁶. The threads mean the white of dawn and the dark of night¹⁷.

You broke the fast thinking the sun had set

• Asma, the daughter of Abu Bakr, said: we broke our fast on a cloudy day in the time of Nabi ﷺ, and then the sun came out¹⁸.
• The four schools say: stop eating, keep away from food until sunset, and make up the day. There is no sin and no kaffarah. Some later scholars say no make-up is needed, but making it up is the safer way.
• Not sure if the sun has set? Wait until you are sure.

You were forced

• Someone forced food or drink into your mouth, or threatened you with real harm. There is no sin on you¹⁹.
• Shafi'is and Hanbalis say your fast is still valid. Hanafis and Malikis say make up the day.

Water went down by accident

• Water slipped down while rinsing in wudu or swimming? Shafi'is and Hanbalis say your fast is fine, unless you were overdoing the rinsing. Hanafis and Malikis say make up the day.
• A fly, dust or flour you could not avoid going down your throat does not break the fast.

Qada or kaffarah: what each mistake needs

• Qada (making up): you fast one day later, in place of the day you lost.
• Kaffarah (a heavy expiation): fast two months in a row. If you truly cannot, feed sixty poor people. In the time of Nabi ﷺ the first option was freeing a slave²⁰. Kaffarah is only for a fast in Ramadan itself, not a make-up day or a voluntary fast.

• The wife. If she agreed to it, Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis say she also owes kaffarah. Shafi'is say only the husband does. If she was forced, she owes no kaffarah.
• The order. Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis say the options go in order: you feed sixty people only if you truly cannot fast two months. Malikis say you may choose, and that feeding is best.
• Broke the fast in Ramadan with no excuse? Still keep away from food and drink for the rest of the day, out of respect for Ramadan. Then make up the day.

Kaffarah comes from a real story. A man came to Nabi ﷺ saying he was ruined, and he went home with a basket of dates²⁵.

Things that are disliked

These do not break the fast in themselves, but they put it at risk. Scholars call them makruh (disliked).

• Kissing and close touching, for someone who cannot control himself. Aisha said Nabi ﷺ would kiss and hold his wives while fasting, and he had more control over his desire than any of you³⁰. Nabi ﷺ allowed an old man to hold his wife while fasting, and told a young man not to³¹. If you might go further, keep away.
• Overdoing the rinsing in wudu. Nabi ﷺ said: sniff water deep into the nose, unless you are fasting³².
• Toothpaste, mouthwash, and tasting food without a need. Allowed, but it is easy to swallow some.
• Miswak after midday. Shafi'is and Hanbalis disliked it in the afternoon, to keep the smell of the fasting mouth, which Allah loves³³. Many other scholars say it is fine all day³⁴.

Cupping (hijamah) and giving blood

• Nabi ﷺ said: the one who cups and the one who is cupped have broken their fast³⁵. But Ibn Abbas said: Nabi ﷺ was cupped while he was fasting³⁶.
• Anas said they disliked it only if it makes you weak³⁷.
• Hanbalis say cupping breaks the fast. Hanafis, Malikis and Shafi'is say it does not, but it is disliked if it will make you weak.
• Many scholars today say giving a large amount of blood is like cupping. To be safe, give blood after iftar.

Common questions

I drank water at noon, then remembered I was fasting. Is my fast gone?

No. Stop drinking and carry on fasting. Nabi ﷺ said it was Allah who gave you that drink³⁸. Most scholars say you do not need to make it up. Malikis say make up a Ramadan day.

I have asthma. Can I use my inhaler while fasting?

Yes, use it if you need it. Scholars today differ on whether it breaks the fast. If you need it every day, you may be excused from fasting. Ask your doctor and a scholar you trust, and see When you cannot fast.

Can I brush my teeth with toothpaste?

Yes. It does not break the fast as long as you do not swallow it. Many people brush at suhur and after iftar, and use a miswak in the day.

I had a nosebleed while fasting. What now?

Your fast is fine. Just spit out any blood that runs into your throat.

I have a dental appointment in Ramadan. Should I cancel it?

You do not have to. A numbing injection, a filling or a cleaning does not break the fast. Spit out water and blood. If you can, book it after iftar. If you need painkillers by mouth, take them after sunset, or break the fast and make it up.

My period started an hour before Maghrib. Do I finish the fast?

No. Your fast for that day has ended. You may eat and drink, and make up that day later. There is no sin in it.