Vapeboss – On Thursday (23/3/2023), the Indonesian government officially announced that the 1st of Ramadan would begin on that date. This means that starting Thursday, Muslims are required to observe a 30-day fast.

Fasting itself is the process of refraining from eating, drinking, lust, and anything that invalidates it from dawn until sunset with the intention for the sake of Allah SWT. For a person's fast to be accepted by Allah SWT, they must avoid things that can invalidate the fast.

For example, intentionally eating and drinking while fasting. This, of course, invalidates the fast itself. However, besides that, there are still questions regarding whether smoking and vaping during fasting can invalidate it or not. Given that these two things are common habits among Indonesians.

Quoted from Islam.nu.or.id, one of the things that invalidates fasting and must be avoided is intentionally inserting something into an open body cavity. According to fiqh terminology, something that enters an open body cavity and can invalidate the fast is called 'ain.

In Arabic, smoking is called syurbud dukhan which can be interpreted as drinking or inhaling smoke. Because the customary name for smoking is asy-syurbu, and the visible behavior is inhaling, the majority of scholars believe that smoking invalidates the fast.

One of the scholars of the Shafi'i school, Sheikh Sulaiman al-‘Ujaili, stated in his book Hasyiyatul Jumal ‘ala Syarhil Minhaj, Beirut, Darul Fikr, vol. 2 page 317, which means:

“And among the ‘ain (things that invalidate fasting) is smoke, but it must be distinguished. If the smoke/vapor is what is commonly inhaled now (meaning tobacco), then the fast is invalid. But if it is other smoke/vapor, such as cooking smoke/vapor, then it does not invalidate the fast. This is the mu’tamad opinion (referred to by scholars due to its strong arguments).”

The smoke inhaled from cigarettes invalidates fasting because it is inhaled intentionally. Sheikh Nawawi al-Banteni mentioned in his book Nihayatuz Zain fi Irsyadul Mubtadiin, Beirut: Darul Fikr, vol. 1, page 187, which means:

"The entry of 'ain into the throat from an open cavity intentionally and with knowledge of its prohibition invalidates the fast... such as inhaling smoke (known as cigarettes)."

Then vape or shisha, which are often used as alternatives to cigarettes, are considered the same as cigarettes if we refer to the above argument. So, vape and shisha also invalidate fasting because they vaporize liquid and are intentionally inhaled.

Regarding passive smoking, or people who merely inhale cigarette smoke, there is a debate about whether these two things invalidate the fast. However, based on the explanations of several scholars above, it can be concluded that those whose fast is invalidated are those who smoke directly from the cigarette itself.

So for passive smokers or people who are around smokers and accidentally inhale the smoke, their fast is not invalidated because they are not inhaling smoke from its source and it is inhaled when breathing.

Source: Medcom