Question:
Are all the madhhabs agreed
about the ruling on swallowing saliva, and that if it had come out to the lips,
then swallowing it invalidates the fast? I hope that you can tell me if there
is any view that regards it as permissible to swallow saliva if it has come out
onto the lips, so that I can follow it, because I suffer from waswasah, and I
am looking for the easiest rulings. Please note also that I do not feel
entirely convinced that if the saliva has come out to the lips, swallowing it
invalidates the fast. I feel that this is not logical. When I woke up from
sleep, I found some saliva on the outside of my mouth, and I swallowed it
deliberately.
Answer:
Praise be to Allah
If the fasting person
deliberately swallows his saliva after it had come out to his lips, he breaks
his fast according to the Shaafa‘is and Hanbalis, because in that case the
saliva has become detached from its place, which is the inside of the mouth, so
swallowing it is like swallowing anything else that is separate from the mouth.
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy
on him) said regarding the swallowing of saliva that does not break the fast:
That is if he swallows it from its place, which is inside mouth. But if it came
out of his mouth, then he took it back with his tongue or otherwise, and
swallowed it, he has broken his fast.
Our companions said: Even if it
came out to the lips, and he took it back and swallowed it, he has broken his
fast, because he has made a mistake by doing that, and because it was outside
the place where it may be overlooked. Al-Mitwalli said: If it comes out on his
lips, then he takes it back and swallows it, he has broken his fast.
End quote from al-Majmoo‘
(6/342).
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have
mercy on him) said: If his saliva comes out onto his garment, between his
fingers, or between his lips, then he takes it back and swallows it, or he
swallows the saliva of another person, that breaks the fast, because he
swallowed it from somewhere other than his own mouth, so it is the same as if
he swallows something other than saliva.
End quote from al-Mughni
(3/17).
The Hanafis are of the view
that it does not break the fast unless the
saliva became detached from the mouth, then he put it in his mouth.
It says in Fath al-Qadeer
(2/332): If his saliva came out of his mouth, then he put it back in and
swallowed it:
If it had not become separated
from his mouth, rather it was still connected to what was in his mouth, like a
thread, then he swallowed it, that does not break the fast.
But if it had become separated,
then he took it and put it back, that does break the fast, although no
expiation is required of him.
If it collected in his mouth
then he swallowed it, that is makrooh, but it does not break the fast. End
quote.
It says in Majma‘ al-Anhar
(1/246): If his saliva came out of his mouth, then he put it back in his mouth
and swallowed it:
If it had not become separated
from his mouth, rather it remained connected to what was in his mouth, like a
thread, then he swallowed it, that does not break the fast.
If it had become separated, and
he took it and put it back, that does break the fast, although no expiation is
required of him.
If his saliva got on both lips
when speaking and the like, and he swallowed it, that does not break the fast.
End quote.
In al-Jawharah an-Nayyirah
(1/140), it says:
If the saliva of a fasting
person runs down onto his chin when he is sleeping or otherwise, and he
swallows it before it becomes separated from the mouth, that does not break the
fast. End quote.
We have not come across any
view of the Maalikis concerning this matter.
There is no blame on you if you
follow the view of the Hanafis, because of the waswasah that you are suffering
from; this is a valid excuse.
However it is more prudent to
avoid doing that deliberately, without being unduly strict or paying heed to
waswaas.
And Allah knows best.
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