Bleeding Gums While Fasting

Answered by Shaykh Faraz A. Khan

Question: In the past I had bad gums which bled at least once a day sometimes three or four times. I used to try to spit it out sometimes, but sometimes I swallowed it because I just assumed that when in hardship I could swallow it (since I was diagnosed with gingivitis). Thinking back now, I am not sure whether there was more blood than saliva when I swallowed intentionally.

What is the Hanafi view on this?  Were the previous fasts valid or not?

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

I pray this finds you in the best of health and states.

Firstly, the basis of past worship is validity, and this is at the level of certainty. Only a certain or very highly probable cause of invalidity would take precedence over that.

Moreover, while the dominant opinion in the Hanafi school is that swallowing saliva admixed with blood breaks the fast, there is a weaker narration in the school that it does not. [Razi, Tuhfat al-Muluk]

Considering your situation and in light of the above, your fasts can be deemed valid and need not be made up.

And Allah knows best.
wassalam
Faraz

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani