READ: What invalidates a fast?

Fasting in the month of Ramadan is compulsory on every Muslim adult. The Arabic word Sawm literally means ‘to refrain’, but as an Islamic term, it means refraining from food, other activities from dawn to sunset. Without further ado, here are 14 points regarding acts that invalidate a fast:

1. Eating, drinking, or having intercourse.
2. Smoking cigarettes, huqqah, cigar even if one assumes the smoke did not reach the throat.
3. Chewing paan (betel) or tobacco.
4. If sugar or any soluble food is put in the mouth. Any food which is soluble
5. If something equal to the size of a chick- pea or larger was stuck between the teeth and it was swallowed or it was smaller than a chick- pea but was taken out of the mouth and put it back in and swallowed it.
6. Bleeding from the gums, if blood goes down the throat and is tasted- regardless of the amount of blood there is, if the amount of blood is less than the saliva but the blood is not tasted then then the fast will not become invalid.
7. Inhaling medication through the nostrils.
8. If water reaches the throat or nose when performing wuzu.
9. Eating or drinking in sleep.
10. Swallowing another individual’s saliva or spitting your own saliva in your hand and swallowing it.
11. Swallowing your saliva in your mouth does not invalidate fast.
12. If a coloured string is put into the mouth which changes colour when mixed with saliva.
13. Swallowing 1 or 2 drops of tears does not invalidate the fast but if a few tears are tasted in the whole mouth the fast will be invalid.
14. During defecation (Revelling yourself) if the anal orifice appears, one must dry it properly before standing up. If he stands up with drops of water on the anus causing the water to be absorbed into the body the fast will become invalid.

Taken from Blessings of Ramdan book, page 107.