Does Swallowing Mucus Still Break One’s Fast If There Is Hardship in Avoiding It?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

What is the alternative ruling on mucus breaking one’s fast? Is there an alternative solution due to hardship?

Answer

Thank you for your question.

Shaykh Jamir mentions in his fasting document:

Regarding mucus/phlegm: Swallowing it does not break the fast, regardless of whether it comes from the sinus cavities or the respiratory tract. However, this is on the condition that it remains within the “inner parameter” (hadd al-batin) and does not pass into the “outer parameter” (hadd al-dhahir). What “inner parameter” means is what is below the exit point for the sound of the letters Haa (light) and Hamza. “Outer parameter” means here what is from the exit point for the sound of the letters Haa (strong) and Khaa, and out towards the mouth, while the “outer parameter” of the nose is; from the beginning of the sinus cavity down to the nostrils. If the mucus/phlegm passes into these outer limits, one must spit or blow it out if possible. His fast is broken if one sucks it back into the inner limits. It does not break the fast if it goes back on its own or due to coughing, sneezing, or any other reason one can not control.

Phlegm/mucus that passes through one part of the inner limit to another without going into the outer limits – does not break one’s fast. For example, mucus that slides directly from the nasal cavity down the back of the throat and into the chest. Taken from “The Fiqh of Fasting Ramadan According to the School of Imam Shafi’i.”

In the Reliance of the Traveller, it says:

Each of the following things invalidates the day’s fast when one knows they are unlawful (A: during an obligatory fast) and remembers one is fasting (A: but does them deliberately anyway); (…).

Allowing phlegm or mucus at the back of the mouth to be swallowed when one could have spit them out (n: though in the Hanafi school, this does not break the fast, even if intentional (al-Hadiyya al-‘Ala’iyya))

Hardship

As for the one who has hardship in keeping his phlegm from being swallowed, he may take the Hanafi dispensation, as mentioned above.

Please see these links as well:
Does Sniffing or Swallowing Mucus Nullify My Fasting or Prayer?

May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin and completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.