Use of Inhalers during Fasting (Hanafi Madhab)

[Colonel_Hardstone]

Assalaamo Alaikum
I am a doctor & I am wondering that if something that passes through the throat & settles in lungs nullifies fast, than what about the air we breath, or the smoke & dust we inhale all the time? I request you to consider this aspect before declaring Inhaler for asthma as non permissible in fasting. In my humble opinion Inhaler is in vapour form, it does not provide any material for ingestion of that goes to the stomach, therefore it may be allowed. Further more allowing use of inhaler will allow many asthma patients to fast which they will be unable to do without the inhaler.
May Allah guide us all to the right path

Half of my family are Pharmacists & after extensive discussions into the "carrier mechanism and pharmacology" of Modern Inhalers I respectfully agree with your analysis and respectfully disagree with the Fatwas being quoted.

There is a well known Deobandi Hanafi Shaykh who permits the use of Inhalers during fasting and most Muslim Pharmacists and Doctors see no problems with its usage during fasting.

I also see Mufti Hussain Saheb's point and can't provide a rebuttal for that.

At the least, this issue and resulting Fatwaas need to be revisited.

Allah (SWT) knows best.

[Abbe]

Assalaamo Alaikum
I am a doctor & I am wondering that if something that passes through the throat & settles in lungs nullifies fast, than what about the air we breath, or the smoke & dust we inhale all the time? I request you to consider this aspect before declaring Inhaler for asthma as non permissible in fasting. In my humble opinion Inhaler is in vapour form, it does not provide any material for ingestion of that goes to the stomach, therefore it may be allowed. Further more allowing use of inhaler will allow many asthma patients to fast which they will be unable to do without the inhaler.
May Allah guide us all to the right path

Salam aleikum
Its not possible to avoid inhaling dust (or possible only with excessive hardship)and for this reason the shafi'i scholars said that dust is excused.

Smoke from cigarettes can be compared with asthma spray. If you inhale smoke on purpose your fast will be invalid, but if you happen to inhale it the fast will not be invalid. The same thing is true for asthma spray. If you inhale it on purpose it will affect the validity of the fast.

The issue here is purposely letting a substance pass the throat. It doesnt matter if its medicine or something else (taking headache pills or whatever)

[abulayl]

The issue here is purposely letting a substance pass the throat. )

with the argument scholars of the Standing Committee of saudi allowed it was:

The asthma medication that the patient uses by inhaling it reaches the lungs via the trachea and does not reach the stomach, so it is not food or drink or anything of the sort… So it seems that the fast is not broken by using this medicine.

*i just quote*

[Colonel_Hardstone]

with the argument scholars of the Standing Committee of saudi allowed it was:

The asthma medication that the patient uses by inhaling it reaches the lungs via the trachea and does not reach the stomach, so it is not food or drink or anything of the sort… So it seems that the fast is not broken by using this medicine.

*i just quote*

The Deobandi Maulana whom I quote permits his Mureeds to use Inhaler based on the very same reason and it is scientifically sound & accurate explanation.

[Abbe]

Salam aleikum
There seem to be two issues in the fatwa quoted:
1 not being food or drink
2 not reaching the stomach.

This can be refuted in at least 3 ways:
1 Cigarette smoke is not food or drink and it doesnt reach the stomach
2 Neither the hanafis or the shafiis said that only food and drink invalidates the fast. Eating a stone will invalidate the fast.
3 The claim that it doesnt reach the stomach is not true. This is from another forum:

"we learned in pharmacy school that with inhaled aerosolized medications, about 80-90% of it reaches the lungs, while 10-20% of it does go down the esophagus... and this is only if the patient performs the procedure correctly, otherwise as much as 50% can go down the esophagus (hence the systemic effects sometimes seen with them) if done incorrectly.
therefore, it is very valid to say that the fasting would be broken wa'llahu a'lam"


Anyway i heard from one of my shaykhs that a person could follow the opinion that it doesnt invalidate the fast and then, just to be sure, make up for those days later on.

[Colonel_Hardstone]

Salam aleikum
There seem to be two issues in the fatwa quoted:
1 not being food or drink
2 not reaching the stomach.

This can be refuted in at least 3 ways:
1 Cigarette smoke is not food or drink and it doesnt reach the stomach
2 Neither the hanafis or the shafiis said that only food and drink invalidates the fast. Eating a stone will invalidate the fast.
3 The claim that it doesnt reach the stomach is not true. This is from another forum:

"we learned in pharmacy school that with inhaled aerosolized medications, about 80-90% of it reaches the lungs, while 10-20% of it does go down the esophagus... and this is only if the patient performs the procedure correctly, otherwise as much as 50% can go down the esophagus (hence the systemic effects sometimes seen with them) if done incorrectly.
therefore, it is very valid to say that the fasting would be broken wa'llahu a'lam"


Anyway i heard from one of my shaykhs that a person could follow the opinion that it doesnt invalidate the fast and then, just to be sure, make up for those days later on.

This is also true

[abulayl]

1 Cigarette smoke is not food or drink and it doesnt reach the stomach

for the necessity sake, things do differ. Ciggertte isnt necessary but inhaler is. Cigerette out side of ramadan do have a negative effect like drugs and so on, but inhaler doesnt.

2 Eating a stone will invalidate the fast.

If it does reach the stomach, it will break the fast as it seems from saudi scholars fatwa.

3 The claim that it doesnt reach the stomach is not true. This is from another forum:

"we learned in pharmacy school that with inhaled aerosolized medications, about 80-90% of it reaches the lungs, while 10-20% of it does go down the esophagus... and this is only if the patient performs the procedure correctly, otherwise as much as 50% can go down the esophagus (hence the systemic effects sometimes seen with them) if done incorrectly.
therefore, it is very valid to say that the fasting would be broken wa'llahu a'lam"

Here may some disagreement present among scientist! If scientist can get an agreement what the reality is, scholars may also be able to decide correctly! so the answer isnt in hand of scholars somehow but in the hand of scientist!

[Colonel_Hardstone]

Here may some disagreement present among scientist! If scientist can get an agreement what the reality is, scholars may also be able to decide correctly! so the answer isnt in hand of scholars somehow but in the hand of scientist!

Brother,

Its not a different of science its a difference of application between patient to patient. Its like a Doctor telling a patient to take 1 teaspoon 3 times a day and the patient spilling some or not filling the teaspoon correctly.

The Inhalers are designed to be gaseous and to enter the respiratory tract and not the digestive tract and they most certainly have no Caloric content or nutritional value.

[Colonel_Hardstone]

Here may some disagreement present among scientist! If scientist can get an agreement what the reality is, scholars may also be able to decide correctly! so the answer isnt in hand of scholars somehow but in the hand of scientist!

Brother,

Its not a different of science its a difference of application between patient to patient. Its like a Doctor telling a patient to take 1 teaspoon 3 times a day and the patient spilling some or not filling the teaspoon correctly.

The Inhalers are designed to be gaseous and to enter the respiratory tract and not the digestive tract and they most certainly have no Caloric content or nutritional value.

During Wudhu or Ghusl due to bad technique or even out of carelessness a person may actually intake tiny amounts of water as it is entirely possible but you can't ban taking water into your mouth or Nostrils based on such risk (entirely down to personal technique and habits).

[Abbe]

for the necessity sake, things do differ. Ciggertte isnt necessary but inhaler is. Cigerette out side of ramadan do have a negative effect like drugs and so on, but inhaler doesnt.

Then whatabout other types of medicine? Necessity allows you to take medicine, it hasnt anything to do with the validity of the fast.

If it does reach the stomach, it will break the fast as it seems from saudi scholars fatwa.

Im not sure about that. This is from one of theire sites:

The third of the things that invalidate the fast is eating or drinking
This refers to food or drink reaching the stomach via the mouth

He seem to say that only food and drink reaching the stomach will break the fast. This would exclude stones and whatever.

Here may some disagreement present among scientist! If scientist can get an agreement what the reality is, scholars may also be able to decide correctly! so the answer isnt in hand of scholars somehow but in the hand of scientist!

No, i dont think so, because the issue for tha hanafis and the shafi'is (and maybe for the hanbalis and the malikis?) is something passing the throat, not reaching the stomach.

Are there any scientist saying that the spray only goes into the lungs, and that nothing reaches the stomach?