Can I Use Antiseptic Cream During Fast in Ramadan?

Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question

I suffer from mouth ulcers daily and apply an antiseptic on them. I was wondering if I could apply the antiseptic during Ramadan. Will that break my fast?

Answer

If the substance does not reach your throat, it will not invalidate the fast. Usually, one may assume that putting on a very small amount of antiseptic on a mouth ulcer would not break the fast. [al-Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

It is still better to avoid putting on this antiseptic while you are fasting. If it is possible to put it on before the fast begins and then only reapply it after you open your fast, this would be optimal.

[Ustadh] Salman Younas
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Born and raised in New York, Ustadh Salman Younas graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Political Science and Religious Studies. After studying the Islamic sciences online and with local scholars in New York, Ustadh Salman moved to Amman. There he studied Islamic law, legal methodology, belief, hadith methodology, logic, Arabic, and tafsir. He is now in his final year of his PhD at Oxford University, looking at the early evolution of the Hanafi madhab.
His teachers include: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Shaykh Salah Abu’l Hajj, Shaykh Ashraf Muneeb, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Hamza Karamali, Shaykh Ahmad Snobar, Shaykh Ali Hani, Shaykh Hamza Bakri, Ustadh Rajab Harun and others.
Ustadh Salman’s personal interests include research into the fields of law/legal methodology, hadith, theology, as well as political theory, government, media, and ethics. He is also an avid traveler and book collector. He currently resides in the UK with his wife.