Does inserting anything vaginally break the fast?

http://darulfiqh.com/will-an-internal-pelvic-ultrasound-break-the-fast/

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

An internal pelvic ultrasound involves a probe being inserted into the female private part.[1]

The early Fuqahā’ had enumerated the private part to be one of those entry points which can invalidate a fast.  This was based on the understanding that the female private part is connected to the digestive system. 

However, contemporary Fuqahā’ have opined that since the female private organ has no connection to the digestive system, the fast should not break by inserting something therein.  The digestive system here refers to the throat, intestines and stomach.  This conclusion is based on the principles laid down by the earlier Fuqahā’.  Mufti Rafi` ‘Uthmani Hafidhahullah has discussed this issue in great length and depth in his al-Maqālāt al-Fiqhiyyah.

Thus, the following openings to the body are invalidating entry points and substances entering and traversing therein will consequently reach the digestive system[2]:

1)    The mouth

2)    The nose

3)    Perforated eardrums

4)    The anus

Therefore, by having an internal pelvic ultrasound whilst fasting, the fast will not be invalidated. 

And Allah Ta’ālā Knows Best

Mufti Faraz Adam al-Mahmudi, 
www.darulfiqh.com 
 28/06/2014

Hope you are well

I have a question in relation to undergoing ivf whilst fasting. I would like to know in steps 1,2,3,5 – whether they break fasting, and if so is kaffarah needed. Alternatively, if we miss a fast to undergo the mentioned steps – whether we can do Qadha for it.

1) As part of our fertility treatment, my wife needs to take injections. These injections make my wifes ovaries and follicles grow. 

2) Thereafter, my wife will need most likely general ( or local anaesthetic ) to have her eggs extracted based on the above injections. 

3) I will need to give a semen sample – this maybe me undergoing a surgical procedure whereby, they extract the sperm via a biopsy or needle. This may or may not – need anasthesia.

4) The dr’s will then use the sperm extract from the semen and directly implant into my wifes eggs – this is called ICSI. This fertilsation if Allah wills become embryos.

5) The embryos will be inserted into my wifes womb. Hopefully, Allah willing they cling to the uterus lining and results in pregnency. 

Jazak Allah

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

1)    In principle, injections do not invalidate the fast.[1]

2)    There are usually two methods of administering general anaesthetics: 

• liquid that is injected into your veins through a cannula (a thin, plastic tube that feeds into a vein, usually on the back of your hand)
• gas that you breathe in through a mask[2]

The injection of a liquid into the veins at the back of the hand will not invalidate the fast.  However, the gas method will invalidate the fast[3]. 

3)    Semen samples are taken by a procedure called Testicular Biopsy.  There is more than one type of testicular biopsy, the various biopsy procedures include:

• Needle biopsy – in which a needle is used to remove a tiny sample of testicular tissue.
• Biopsy with small scissors – in which, as the name suggest, a very small pair of scissors are used to cut out a small piece of tissue from the testicles
• Open biopsy – which is more invasive than the other two biopsy procedures mentioned above. A cut is made in the skin of the scrotum under general anaesthetic, and tissue is removed. This procedure is usually reserved for patients in whom testicular cancer is suspected.[4]

The above procedures of testicular biopsy will not invalidate the fast.   

4)    Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a procedure executed under a microscope using various instruments.  This will not have a legal Shar’ī effect on the validity of the fast. 

5)    The vagina was classically referred to as an orifice of consequence (an opening which has the potential to break the fast).  It was assumed that the vagina had a direct passage to the digestive system.  However, contemporary scholars in light of all the advancements in modern science and anatomy, have ruled that the vagina is not an orifice of consequence as the vagina does not have a direct passage to the digestive system. 

Therefore, the insertion of embryos into the womb via the vagina will not invalidate the fast.

And Allah Ta’ālā Knows Best

Mufti Faraz al-Mahmudi,www.darulfiqh.com


http://daruliftaa.com/node/6701

<QUESTION>

Does a cervical smear test invalidate one’s fast?

<ANSWER>

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

The general principle in the Hanafi School of Sunni Islamic law (based on the Qur’an and Sunna) is that inserting medicine, water or anything else into the anus or internal part of a female’s vagina invalidates the fast, since both are deemed passageways through which a substance enters the stomach (jawf) and digestive system.

Imam al-Kasani (Allah have mercy on him), the classical Hanafi jurist, states:

“As for inserting medicine into a woman’s vagina, our [Hanafi] scholars have stated that her fast is invalidated by consensus, because there is an opening in her bladder which results in the substance reaching the stomach…” (Bada’i al-Sana’i, 2/93)

It is stated in Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya:

“If one inserts medicine via a suppository into the anus (ihtiqan)… the fast is invalidated, although there is no expiation/Kaffara [but merely a make-up/qadha]… And a fast is invalidated by inserting [medicine or water] into a woman’s vagina.” (Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 1/204)

And:

“If one inserts a finger into the anus, or a woman inserts her finger into her vagina, the fast is not invalidated unless the finger was wet with water, oil [or the like], in which case the fast is invalidated due to the water or oil reaching inside the body.” (Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 1/204)

Furthermore, the renowned classical Hanafi jurists, Imam al-Haskafi and Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on them) state that the complete insertion of a solid substance such as a stick or instrument into the anus [or vagina] such that it disappears fully into the orifice also invalidates one’s fast. (See: Radd al-Muhtar ala ‘l-Durr al-Mukhtar, 2/397)

Based on these texts from classical Hanafi sources, inserting anything wet with water, oil or the like, even a wet finger, inside a woman’s vagina, the distance to the size of a suppository, invalidates the fast. Likewise, the complete insertion of a solid substance, such that it disappears fully into the orifice, invalidates the fast.

In view of this, according to the view of classical Hanafi jurists (fuqaha), a cervical smear test would invalidate a woman’s fast, since it involves inserting a lubricated speculum fully into her vagina.

However, some contemporary Hanafi scholars, such as Shaykh Mufti Rafi’ Usmani, are of the view that a smear test does not invalidate the fast. They state that the verdict of early Hanafi scholars was based on the impression that there is a connection between a woman’s vagina and urinary system and her digestive system, and as such, anything inserted into the vagina would inevitably reach her stomach. However, modern medical research clearly denies there being any connection between the two. (Rafi’ Usmani, Dabit al-Mufattirat p, 33-34)

This position can be followed as a sound position within the Hanafi School. Thus, a female may take a smear test whilst fasting without it affecting her fast, Insha Allah. However, due to the difference of opinion, it would be best to delay the test until after Ramadhan, if possible.

And Allah knows best

[Mufti] Muhammad ibn Adam
Darul Iftaa
Leicester , UK