[Q 566] Swallowing Vomit During Fast

QUESTION:

If someone vomits less than a mouthful intentionally, and then swallows it, either unintentionally or intentionally, would the fast break?
If it was involuntary and swallowed, intentionally or unintentionally, would the fast break?

ANSWER:

If someone deliberately induces vomiting and it is less than a mouthful, then before it exits the mouth he swallows it back, or it returns down the throat on its own, the fast will not break. However, if after it has exited the mouth, he swallows it despite remembering that he is fasting, then the fast will break. In this case, only qada (make-up of the fast) will be necessary; kaffarah (expiation) will not be obligatory.
If vomiting occurs involuntarily, no matter how much it is, the fast does not break. Then, if it returns down the throat on its own, the fast remains valid. However, if the vomit is a mouthful and the fasting person, despite remembering that he is fasting, deliberately swallows it back completely or at least to the amount of a chickpea, then the fast will break.

Note: This ruling applies when the vomit consists of food, water, safra (bitter fluid/bile), or blood. However, if the vomit is phlegm (balgham), then the fast does not break in any case.

Imam Ahl-e-Sunnat Sayyidi A‘la Hazrat Imam Ahmad Raza Khan عليه رحمۃ الرحمن writes:

”والحاصل: أنّ ما دون مِلء الفم لا يفسد مطلقاً وإن أعاده ذاكراً صومه أي: قبل خروجه من فيه فإنّه إن أعاد الساقط -والعياذ بالله تعالى -أفسد مطلقاً إجماعاً بلا كفّارة إلاّ أن يكون نسي الصوم، وأمّا ما كان ملء الفم فيشترط في الإفساد به شرطان:
أحدهما: صنع الصائم إمّا في إخراجه وهو الاستقاء، أو إدخاله وهو الإعادة.
والثانِي: أن يكون ذلك الصنع وهو ذاكرٌ للصوم فإن فقد أحد الشرطين لَم يفسد ما كان ملء الفم أيضاً مطلقاً، والله تعالى أعلم.“
(Jadd al-Mumtar ‘ala Radd al-Muhtar, Volume 4, Page 269, Maktabat al-Madinah, Karachi)

Sadr al-Shari‘ah Badr al-Tariqah Mufti Amjad ‘Ali A‘zami رحمۃ اللہ تعالی علیہ states:

“If one deliberately vomits a mouthful and he remembers that he is fasting, then in all cases the fast is nullified. If it is less than that, it is not nullified. If vomiting occurs involuntarily, whether it is a mouthful or not, and in any case whether it returns down the throat on its own or he causes it to return or it does not return, then if it is less than a mouthful, the fast is not broken, even if it returned or he caused it to return. If it is a mouthful and he caused it to return, even if only the amount of a chickpea descends past the throat, the fast is nullified; otherwise not. These rulings of vomit apply when food, safra (bile), or blood comes out in the vomit. If phlegm comes out, then in all cases the fast is not broken.”

(Bahar-e-Shari‘at, Volume 1, Page 994, Maktabat al-Madinah, Karachi)

Answered by: Hafiz Jahanzaib (Ask Mufti Scholar)
Verified by: Mufti Sajid Attari
Translated Answer
Date: 25th February 2026.
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