Answered by: Maulana Burhaan Rahman
Question:
Can we use a nicotine patch during fasting?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
According to the NHS UK, a form of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) can be a Nicotine patch.
This is:
“A sticker that distributes nicotine (in gel form) that is absorbed by the skin and then goes via the capillaries into the bloodstream, as a result, it prevents withdrawal symptoms in the one who is nicotine dependent.”
Using patches allows the nicotine to directly go through the skin directly into the bloodstream. No biting or inhalation through the mouth is used.
Allah SWT mentions in the Qur’an:
وَكُلُوۡا وَاشۡرَبُوۡا حَتّٰى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَـكُمُ الۡخَـيۡطُ الۡاَبۡيَضُ مِنَ الۡخَـيۡطِ الۡاَسۡوَدِ مِنَ الۡفَجۡرِ
And eat and drink at night until you can discern the white streak of dawn against the blackness of the night. [Surah Baqarah verse 187]
This procedure is similar to a person taking an injection in the state of fasting. The ruling regarding this is that the fast remains intact. (Ahsanul Fatawa p.432 v.4)
Therefore, in the aforementioned scenario, by using Nicorette patches, one fast will not break.
Only Allah knows best.
Written by Maulana Burhaan Rahman
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham