Fatwa ID: 04974

Answered by: Imam Abdul-Malik Sheikh

Question

I have bleeding gums or bloody saliva when I wake up, 99.9% of the time. Very rarely do I have no bleeding. I bleed when I brush teeth or miswak as well (I try to do miswak very lightly now). In the past even when I have a nap during the day in Ramadhan it’s likely that when I wake up I will have bled. ( I don’t really bleed during the day when I’m awake). I can’t taste the blood. Just know I have bled because of the colour of spit or because it’s visible in the gums. Spit is always more red than white. I have been to the dentist and hygienist and I have been told it just the way it is, I don’t have any signs of gum disease at all. Will my fasts count?

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

Answer:

If the gums were bleeding, and the saliva became mixed with blood, it will not invalidate the fast as long as the blood is not dominant and it was not swallowed.

However, if the blood is dominant and it was swallowed, then the fast will become invalid and would need to be made up without Kaffarah. If the saliva is dominant then, there is no making up of the fast even if this reaches the throat cavity.

However, when blood comes out and reaches the throat while you’re sleeping, then this is something that you cannot control and avoid and therefore it should not affect your fast.

Reference

Hashiyat al-Tahtawi p.90, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut

Tuhfat al-Muluk, p.30, Dar al-Bashair al-Islamiyyah, Beirut

Only Allah knows best

Written by Imam Abdul-Malik Sheikh

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham