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Traces of food in the mouth during the fast

Answered as per Shafi'i Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Karim Yahya, SunniPath Academy Teacher

After eating some foods like curry or drinking tea, the colour of the saliva in ones mouth is altered. After rinsing my mouth i find that the colour of the food or drink does not leave for a while, in some cases depending on the food, even 4 or 5 hours. Does this trace of food in the mouth constitute a body which would invalidate my fast or prayer by swallowing this saliva?

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

In The Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

Swallowing this saliva does not invalidate your fast and prayer because you do not know there is a body in your mouth which is mixing with your saliva and changing it.

Some of the later jurists of our school discussed this question and Abu Bakr Bin Muhammad Shatta summarized their varying opinions by saying: “The upshot, which is derived from their speech; is that if a body is known to dissolve into saliva it harms, both in the case of prayer and fasting, otherwise it does not. Even if it’s [the saliva’s] color or smell changed, whether the change is due to dye or something like tanbul [a type of leaves which are chewed]”.1

Rather, in your case, we know that there is no longer a body in your mouth because you have rinsed it thoroughly. It is more likely that the saliva is changing by proximity (to the inside of your mouth) than by a body mixing with it, and our Imams have said that saliva which is changed by proximity does not break ones fast.

Having said this, just as you are careful about the soundness of your fast, after you have taken due measure to insure that your fast is valid, you should avoid listening to unfounded misgivings (waswasah), which harm the fast and other kinds of worship inwardly.

Once you have used a toothstick (siwak) or brushed your teeth with that intention and thoroughly rinsed your mouth, try not to even think about the color of your saliva. Remembering some of the dispensations for swallowing a body while fasting will help you do this. Some examples are: accidentally swallowing a body, someone plagued with bleeding gums swallowing saliva changed by blood, swallowing food that was between your teeth when unable to expel it, and inhaling dust or flour.

All of these examples are easier to avoid than the example you mentioned and none of them break one’s fast.

Imam Ghazali, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “It is well known that the aim of fasting is hunger and breaking one’s caprice such that the lower self becomes stronger in showing Godfearingness (taqwa)”.

Spending time inspecting our saliva, hours into the fast, is more likely to distract us from these meanings than to focus our hearts on Allah, Exalted is He, and fearing Him. And Allah knows best and He alone gives success (tawfiq).

1. Muhammad Shatta, I’anah al-Talibin (Beruit, Dar al-Fikr, 1998), 2:363.

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