Fatwa ID: 09296
Answered by Muftiyah Aisha Qureshi
Question:
Asalamualikum brother
I had question for you if you can answer it would be great if not can you ask someone on my behalf?
My question is I am getting immunotherapy for my cancer and that is injected in my body through IV.
Does that invalidate the fast because it’s going through my blood stream?
Also, if getting a cat scan or MRI with constant (medication being put into the body through IV) does that invalidate the fast too?
JazakumAllah
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Fasting in Ramadan (Ṣawm) in Islam requires abstaining from eating, drinking, and any substance reaching the stomach or brain through usual means from dawn (Fajr) to sunset (Maghrib).
Intravenous (IV) immunotherapy is administered directly into a vein, allowing the medication to circulate through your bloodstream to help your immune system recognize and attack cancer cells. Unlike oral medications, it bypasses the digestive system entirely, meaning it does not enter the stomach or intestines.
The treatment is designed to act systematically, reaching immune cells throughout the body including those near tumors, but it does not directly enter the brain unless the drug is designed to cross the blood -brain barrier, which most standard IV immunotherapies do not.
Similarly, undergoing a CT scan or MRI in which medication or contrast dye is administered through an IV does not invalidate the fast. The substance enters the bloodstream directly and does not go through the digestive system or a natural open passage leading to the internal cavity.
Only Allah ﷻ knows best.
Written by Muftiyah Aisha Qureshi
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
References:
وكلوا واشربوا حتى يتبين لكم الخيط الأبيض من الخيط الأسود من الفجر ثم أتموا الصيام إلى الليل
Surah Baqarah v:187
مَن جامع، أو جومِعَ في أحدِ السَّبيلين، أو أكل، أو شربَ غذاءً، أو دواءً عمداً، أو احتجمَ فظَنَّ أنَّه فَطَّرَه فأكل عمداً، قضى وكفَّرَ كالمظاهر، وهو بإفسادِ صومِ رمضانَ لا غير، وإن أفطرَ خطأ، أو مُكرهاً، أو اِحْتَقَنَ، أو اِسْتَعْطَ، أو أقطرَ في أُذُنِه، أو داوى جائفة، أو آمَّة، فوصلَ إلى جوفِه، أو دماغِه
Sharh al Wiqaya vol 2 pg 239 maktaba shamila