Does Using a Marine Air Conditioner Break the Fast?

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

I have problems with asthma, especially during the night and early morning hours. On the advice of my doctor, I have now bought a marine air conditioner; it helps me breathe without using an asthma inhalator.

The device works as follows: you fill it with water and put a special sea salt solution in it; this evaporates, and the air is nebulized with fine sea salt particles. So basically it simulates the air as if you would be at the sea right now.

Note that you put that device in the middle of a room and not use it directly in your mouth like an asthma spray. I‘m just not sure whether this also takes the same principle as using a direct asthma spray, so does using this device break my fast if I had intended to fast?

Answer

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

I pray this finds you in the best of states.

Your fast won’t be invalidated by the vapor produced by the device you have described. [Shurunbulali, Imdad al-Fattah]

This is because there is no “discernible” moisture or other particles in this air.

This is unlike vapor or steam from cooking being inhaled.

Please see: Using Asthma Medication: Is My Fast Invalidated?

And Allah knows best.

Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found. Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others. He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.