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Does having an enema break the fast?

Question

What is the ruling on enemas given to a sick person when he is fasting?


Answer




Praise be to Allaah.
Concerning enemas which are given to sick people to counteract constipation, there is a difference of opinion among the scholars. Some say that it does break the fast, based on the fact that everything that reaches inside the digestive tract breaks the fast. And some of them said that it does not break the fast. Among those who said that was Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, who said that this is not food or drink, and it is not like food or drink.
What I think is that we should look at the doctors’ opinions concerning that; if they say that this is like food or drink then it should be classified as such and thus it breaks the fast. If they say that this does not give the body what food and drink give it, then it does not break the fast.


Source: Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, vol. 1, p. 516