Fatwa ID: 07973
Answered by Maulana Abdurrahman Mohammad
Question:
While doing my Kaffarah, I was cleaning my home and dusting off some shelves on the 58th day out of 60 days. Some dust flew in the air and I inhaled it though exercising caution.
I looked the issue up in Maraqi al-Falah in the chapter of what invalidates the fast. It was mentioned that smoke and dust which is inhaled by one’s own doing will invalidate the fast.
Does the aspect of causing it oneself only apply to smoke or does it apply to dust too?
Is the scenario I described classed as deliberately causing it myself?
Do I have to restart my Kaffarah because of the fast becoming invalid or is the fast still valid?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Inhaling dust does not break one’s fast. Since you were exercising caution and not intentionally trying to consume the dust, it should not break your fast.
Raddul Muhtār states under “Chapter: What invalidates fasting and what does not invalidate it”:
(Or dust, a fly, or smoke enters his throat) even if he remembers, out of Istihsān, because it is not possible to avoid it. Its meaning is that if one inserts smoke into their throat, they would break their fast, whatever the smoke may be, even if it is Oud or Amber, while remembering it [that they’re fasting], because it is possible to avoid it, so let him be aware of it, as explained by Al-Shurunbulali.[1]
Hindiyyah mentions:
If the dust of a mill, the taste of medicines, the dust of mashed potatoes, or the like, or smoke, or whatever dust of dirt is scattered by the wind or the hooves of animals, or the like, enters his throat, it does not break his fast.[2]
Hashiyah Tahtāwī, the famous commentary on Marāqī Al-Falāh, states under “Chapter on what does not invalidate fasting”:
“or” dust entered his throat, even if it was from flour[3]
Inhaling Smoke While Fasting
Elaborating on Raddul Muhtār, if you are aware of the smoke and intentionally inhale it (Idkhāl), it would break your fast. This is because it is possible to avoid smoke, contrary to dust which is found everywhere. There is a difference between Dukhūl and Idkhāl. Dukhūl is when something enters the throat by itself, Idkhāl is when one intentionally inserts something into their throat by their own action, whether by inhaling or other means. Dukhūl of dust and smoke does not break your fast. Idkhāl of smoke breaks your fast. Smelling scents and perfumes doesn’t break your fast because unlike smoke and dust, scents don’t have a thickness or body that can be inhaled.
Explanation Found in Hashiyah Tahtāwī
“or smoke entered his throat without his doing it” due to his inability to refrain from it, so it became like wetness that remained in his mouth after rinsing his mouth [Madmadah] due to it entering through the nose if he closed his mouth. In what we mentioned, there is an indication that whoever puts smoke into his throat by his doing in any way, his fast is invalidated, whether it is the smoke of Amber or Oud or other than that, even if someone burns incense and takes it to himself and smells its smoke, remembering his fast, he has broken his fast because it is possible to avoid introducing what breaks the fast into his stomach and brain. This is something that many people ignore, so let them be aware of it and not imagine that it is like smelling roses, their water [rosewater], and musk, because the difference is clear between air that is perfumed with the scent of musk and the like and the essence of smoke that reached his stomach due to his doing it. We will mention the ruling on expiation for drinking it, “or” dust entered his throat, even if it was fine dust from.[3]
Only Allah (عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ) knows best.
Written by Maulana Abdurrahman Mohammad
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
References:
[1] (أَوْ دَخَلَ حَلْقَهُ غُبَارٌ أَوْ ذُبَابٌ أَوْ دُخَانٌ) وَلَوْ ذَاكِرًا اسْتِحْسَانًا لِعَدَمِ إمْكَانِ التَّحَرُّزِ عَنْهُ، وَمُفَادُهُ أَنَّهُ لَوْ أَدْخَلَ حَلْقَهُ الدُّخَانَ أَفْطَرَ أَيَّ دُخَانٍ كَانَ وَلَوْ عُودًا أَوْ عَنْبَرًا لَهُ ذَاكِرًا لِإِمْكَانِ التَّحَرُّزِ عَنْهُ فَلْيُتَنَبَّهْ لَهُ كَمَا بَسَطَهُ الشُّرُنْبُلَالِيُّ.
(Radd Al-Muhtār, vol. 2, pg. 395, Darul Fikr Beirut)
[2] وَلَوْ دَخَلَ حَلْقَهُ غُبَارُ الطَّاحُونَةِ أَوْ طَعْمُ الْأَدْوِيَةِ أَوْ غُبَارُ الْهَرْسِ، وَأَشْبَاهُهُ أَوْ الدُّخَانُ أَوْ مَا سَطَعَ مِنْ غُبَارِ التُّرَابِ بِالرِّيحِ أَوْ بِحَوَافِرِ الدَّوَابِّ، وَأَشْبَاهِ ذَلِكَ لَمْ يُفْطِرْهُ كَذَا فِي السِّرَاجِ الْوَهَّاجِ.
(Al-Fatāwā Al-Hindiyya, vol. 1, pg. 203, Al-Maṭba’ah Al-Kubrā Al-Amīriyyah)
[3] “أو دخل حلقه دخان بلا صنعه” لعدم قدرته على الامتناع عنه فصار كبلل بقي في فمه بعد المضمضة لدخوله من الأنف إذا أطبق الفم وفيما ذكرنا إشارة إلى أنه من أدخل بصنعه دخانا حلقه بأي صورة كان الإدخال فسد صومه سواء كان دخان عنبرا أو عودا أو غيرهما حتى من تبخر ببخور فآواه إلى نفسه واشتم دخانه ذاكرا لصومه أفطر لإمكان التحرز عن إدخال المفطر جوفه ودماغه وهذا مما يغفل عنه كثير من الناس فلينبه له ولا يتوهم أنه كشم الورود ومائه والمسك لوضوح الفرق بين هواء تطيب بريح المسك وشبهه وبين جوهر دخان وصل إلى جوفه بفعله وسنذكر حكم الكفارة بشربه “أو” دخل حلقه “غبار ولو” كان “غبار” دقيق من
(Hāshiyah At-Tahtāwī, pg. 660, Darul Kutub Ilmiyyah)
