Does Unintentionally Swallowing Vomit Break My Fast?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

I suffer from Irritable bowel syndrome, so I get a lot of burps and reflux every day. Recently during fasting after fajr salah, I felt pressure/air rising up to my throat like I was going to burp, but I did not burp, so I intentionally tried to get the burp out.
In doing so, some food came to my mouth, and I felt like I unintentionally swallowed some of it and spat out whatever I could.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

If vomit/regurgitation comes up into the mouth unintentionally and is then swallowed, the fast remains intact whether the vomit was a full mouth or less. However, if one intentionally brings up a mouthful vomit/regurgitation and then swallows it, the fast is invalidated. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]

Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “There is no makeup on he who vomits unintentionally, and whoever makes themselves vomit must make up the fast.” [Abu Dawud; Tirmidhi]

Hope this helps

Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.