Nutrient injections amounts to end of fast

Dubai: It is permissible to receive medicine through muscular and intravenous injections when fasting during the day in Ramadan, according to the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments (GAIAE) in Abu Dhabi.

However, it is not permissible for the fasting person to be injected with nutrients during the day in Ramadan as that would be similar to consuming food and drink, according to a guidance issued by the GAIAE.

Nutrient injections break one's fast and if it is absolutely necessary, medically, to administer them, the person receiving such injections must make up for the missed fasting days, the body said. However, there would be need to feed the needy (kaffarah), it added.

This Fatwa is the most recent in a series of Fatwas aimed at helping Muslims find answers to their questions concerning fasting.

The Fatwa explains that intravenous injections with no nutrient value do not break one's fast because their contents do not reach the throat. Moreover, the mere sensation of a liquid or solid in the throat does not break one's fast.

However, it is not permissible to have nutritive injections, as they come under the same ruling as having food and drink, and such injections are regarded as a way of breaking the fast in Ramadan. If there is doubt it is preferable to administer the intravenous or intramuscular injection into a muscle or vein during the night.

In summary, the GAIAE said that intravenous injections with nutrients break one's fast. However, intravenous injections without any nutrient value do not break the fast.