Short answer
In the Hanafi school, swallowing a small bit of food left between your teeth, smaller than a chickpea, does not break the fast. A bit the size of a chickpea or larger breaks it, with one day of qada and no kaffarah. If you take something out of your mouth and then put it back and eat it, that breaks the fast. The Shafi'i school says any piece you could spit out breaks it.
Food remaining between the teeth from the night follows the saliva when it is less than a chickpea, so swallowing it does not break the fast. A chickpea or more breaks it with qada only, according to Abu Yusuf, which is the fatwa position. Something taken out of the mouth and then eaten breaks the fast.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Swallowing any food remnant on purpose breaks the fast if you could have separated it and spat it out, however small; if it went down with saliva without you being able to avoid it, the fast is valid.
Explanation
After suhoor, tiny bits of food often stay between the teeth and later go down with the saliva. Because this is hard to avoid, the Hanafi scholars treat small amounts as part of the saliva, which never breaks the fast.
The Hanafi measure:
- Smaller than a chickpea: fast is valid, even if you swallowed it knowingly, though spitting it out is better.
- A chickpea or larger: fast is broken. Make up one day. There is no kaffarah, because this is not eating in the normal way.
- Taken out, then eaten: if you take a bit of food out of your mouth onto your hand and then eat it, that is eating, and the fast is broken.
- Taste only: a lingering taste of suhoor in the mouth does not matter.
Forgetting. If you forgot you were fasting and ate, the fast is still valid. See eating by accident.
Best practice. Floss and brush after suhoor, before Fajr, so nothing is left. During the day use a miswak or a brush with plain water and spit well. See brushing your teeth. For bleeding gums or swallowed blood see does bleeding break your fast, and for the full list use the what breaks your fast checker.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:286
لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا ٱكْتَسَبَتْ ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَآ إِصْرًۭا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦ ۖ وَٱعْفُ عَنَّا وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا وَٱرْحَمْنَآ ۚ أَنتَ مَوْلَىٰنَا فَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ ﴿٢٨٦﴾
Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people."
What cannot easily be avoided, like tiny remnants with saliva, is excused.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on what breaks the fast and what does not. Meat between the teeth: if little, no effect; if much, qada without kaffarah according to Abu Yusuf; the dividing line is the size of a chickpea.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on what corrupts the fast. Food taken out of the mouth and then eaten breaks the fast.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Siyam, section on food between the teeth. The Shafi'i ruling that a remnant that could be spat out breaks the fast when swallowed.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.