What breaks your fast, and what does not.

If you truly forgot you were fasting and ate or drank, your fast is still valid, however much you had. Stop as soon as you remember, rinse your mouth and carry on. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever forgets while fasting and eats or drinks, let him complete his fast, for it was Allah who fed him and gave him drink." (Sahih al-Bukhari 1933; Sahih Muslim 1155) If you see someone eating who has forgotten, remind them.

If you remember that you are fasting and water slips down your throat, for example while rinsing your mouth in wudu, the fast is broken. Make up one day. No kaffarah is due, because you did not do it on purpose. This is why a fasting person rinses gently and does not gargle.

Eating or drinking on purpose during a Ramadan fast, without an excuse, breaks it and needs both a make-up day and kaffarah: 60 days of fasting in a row, or, if you truly cannot fast them, feeding 60 poor people. This applies when the intention was made at night. If you had a valid excuse, such as illness, only the make-up day is due. See the fidya and kaffarah calculator.

Swallowing a tablet or a liquid medicine breaks the fast. If you are ill and need it during the day, that is a valid excuse: take it, and make up the day after Ramadan, with no kaffarah. Many people can move their doses to sehri and iftar, so ask your doctor. If you will always need it during the day, with no hope of change, you pay fidya instead.

If you ate thinking it was still night, or that the sun had set, and then found out you were wrong, the fast is broken. Make up one day, with no kaffarah, and keep from eating and drinking for the rest of that day. Asma bint Abi Bakr reported that people once broke their fast on a cloudy day in the Prophet's ﷺ time and then the sun appeared. (Sahih al-Bukhari 1959) Check the exact time in the Ramadan calendar.

A small bit, less than the size of a chickpea, that you swallow without taking it out of your mouth does not break the fast. A piece the size of a chickpea or bigger breaks it: make up the day. If you took it out of your mouth and then ate it, even a tiny bit breaks the fast. It is best to clean your teeth well at sehri.

Tasting food with the tip of the tongue and spitting it out does not break the fast, but it is disliked without a need. Someone who needs to, such as a cook, or a wife whose husband is harsh about the salt, may taste it. If any of it is swallowed, the fast is broken.

Modern chewing gum releases sugar and flavour that you swallow, so it breaks the fast. Chewing it on purpose in Ramadan is treated like eating, so many Hanafi muftis say kaffarah is due as well as the make-up day. Plain gum that does not break up at all is still disliked.

Smoking breaks the fast, whether it is cigarettes, shisha or a vape, because the smoke or vapour is drawn in on purpose. Done in a Ramadan fast without an excuse, it needs a make-up day and kaffarah, as Ibn Abidin states. A nicotine patch on the skin does not break the fast. Ramadan is a good time to stop altogether.

Brushing does not break the fast as long as you swallow none of the toothpaste. Because toothpaste has a strong taste and can slip down the throat, using it during the day is disliked (makruh) in the Hanafi school. Brush well at sehri and after iftar, and use a dry brush or a miswak during the day. If toothpaste goes down your throat, the fast is broken and the day is made up.

Using a miswak is sunnah at any time of the fasting day, in the morning or the afternoon, and whether the stick is fresh or dry, as al-Hidayah states. Do not swallow any bits that break off.

Mouthwash does not break the fast if none of it is swallowed, but it is disliked without a need because of its taste and the risk of it reaching the throat. Gargling is disliked for the same reason. Use mouthwash after iftar. If any goes down your throat, the fast is broken and the day is made up.

Swallowing your own saliva does not break the fast, however much there is. Saliva that has left your mouth, for example on your fingers, breaks the fast if you swallow it, and so does swallowing someone else's saliva. Gathering saliva in your mouth on purpose to swallow it is disliked.

Swallowing phlegm or mucus that comes from the chest or nose does not break the fast in the Hanafi school, even if it reached your mouth. It is better to spit it out when you can.

Bleeding in the mouth does not break the fast unless you swallow the blood. If blood is swallowed and it is as much as the saliva or more, the fast is broken: make up one day. Dental treatment with a local anaesthetic injection is fine, as long as you do not swallow water or blood. Book non-urgent work after Ramadan or after iftar if you can.

Vomiting that you could not help does not break the fast, however much it is. Making yourself vomit on purpose breaks it if it is a mouthful or more: make up one day, with no kaffarah. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever is overcome by vomiting, no make-up is due on him, and whoever makes himself vomit, let him make up." (Sunan Abi Dawud 2380; Jami at-Tirmidhi 720) Swallowing a mouthful of vomit back on purpose also breaks the fast.

Injections into a muscle, a vein or under the skin do not break the fast, in the view of most Hanafi muftis today, because the medicine does not enter through a natural opening into the stomach. This covers insulin, vaccines and pain relief. The OIC Islamic Fiqh Academy reached the same view for medical injections.

Most Hanafi muftis today hold that a drip into a vein does not break the fast, because it does not pass through a natural opening. A feeding drip taken only to make the fast easier is disliked. Someone ill enough to need a drip is usually also excused from fasting, and may make the day up later.

An asthma inhaler breaks the fast in the view of most Hanafi muftis today, because the medicine is breathed in through the mouth and reaches the throat and lungs. If you need it, use it: illness is an excuse. Make up the day later, with no kaffarah. If you need it every day with no hope of change, pay fidya instead. Ask your doctor whether a long-acting inhaler used at sehri and iftar would work for you. Oxygen does not break the fast.

Eye drops do not break the fast, even if you taste them in your throat, because the eye is not a passage to the stomach. The Hanafi texts say the same about kohl (surma).

The classical Hanafi texts count oil or medicine put into the ear as breaking the fast, with a make-up day and no kaffarah, and many Hanafi muftis keep this ruling. Use ear drops after iftar if you can. Some contemporary scholars hold that when the eardrum is intact nothing reaches the throat, so ear drops do not break the fast. Water that gets into the ear while bathing does not break it.

Drops or spray in the nose break the fast, because the nose is a passage to the throat. Make up one day, with no kaffarah. If you need it for illness, you are excused. Water that you sniff deeply into the nose in wudu can also break the fast, so sniff gently.

Having blood taken for a test does not break the fast, and neither does a nosebleed or a cut. Giving a large amount of blood, or cupping (hijama), does not break it either, but it is disliked if it will weaken you and make fasting hard.

Anything put on the skin, such as cream, oil, a medicated patch or henna, does not break the fast, even if it is absorbed, because it does not enter through an opening.

Swimming does not break the fast in itself. If water goes down your throat or deep into your nose, the fast is broken and the day is made up. Because that is easy to do while swimming, it is better to avoid swimming, and especially diving, during the fast.

A shower or bath does not break the fast, and you may pour water over yourself to cool down. A Companion saw the Prophet ﷺ pouring water over his head while fasting, because of thirst or the heat. (Sunan Abi Dawud 2365) The Hanafi fatwa follows Abu Yusuf: it is not disliked. Take care that no water goes down your throat.

Wearing perfume, attar or deodorant does not break the fast, and smelling flowers or perfume is fine. Deliberately breathing in the smoke of incense, such as bakhoor or oud, does break it, because smoke is being drawn in on purpose. Smoke or dust you breathe in without meaning to does not.

Kissing or hugging your spouse does not break the fast as long as there is no ejaculation. It is disliked for someone who is not sure of their self-control. Aishah said the Prophet ﷺ would kiss while fasting, and that he had the most control of his desire of any of you. (Sahih al-Bukhari 1927; Sahih Muslim 1106) See intimacy in Ramadan.

Ejaculation caused by kissing, touching or masturbation breaks the fast. Make up the day; no kaffarah is due. Masturbation is sinful in itself, so repent. Ejaculation caused only by looking or thinking does not break the fast.

Madhy, the clear fluid that comes with arousal, does not break the fast. It does break wudu, so wash and make wudu before praying.

Intercourse during a Ramadan fast breaks it, even without ejaculation, and needs a make-up day and kaffarah: 60 days of fasting in a row, or feeding 60 poor people only if you cannot fast. Each spouse who took part willingly owes their own make-up and kaffarah. A spouse who was forced owes only the make-up day. At night it is allowed. See intimacy in Ramadan.

A wet dream does not break the fast, because it was not by your choice. Do ghusl so you can pray. You do not need to make up the day.

If you were in janabah at dawn, from intimacy at night or a wet dream, your fast is valid. Do ghusl when you can, and in time to pray Fajr. Aishah and Umm Salamah said the Prophet ﷺ would wake up at dawn in janabah and then fast. (Sahih al-Bukhari 1926; Sahih Muslim 1109)

A woman on her period, or with postnatal bleeding (nifas), does not fast, and a fast kept during it is not valid. She makes the days up after Ramadan, with no fidya. If bleeding starts even a moment before sunset, that day is made up. If it stops during the day, she keeps from food and drink for the rest of the day out of respect for Ramadan, and still makes the day up.

If bleeding stops before dawn, she fasts that day, even if she does ghusl after dawn. In the Hanafi school there is one detail: if the period ends before its tenth day, there must still be enough time before dawn to do ghusl and say the opening takbir of prayer. If there was not, she keeps from food and drink that day and makes it up later.

Fasts kept while a pill holds back the period are valid. Many scholars allow taking it if a doctor says it is safe for you, though letting the natural cycle run is better, and missed days can be made up later.