Have I Broken My Fast by Hypothetically Swallowing Hair?

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

I was fasting in Ramadan, and while fixing my hair, some strands were near my mouth. After finishing, I felt as if I had swallowed a strand of hair, but it was too late to remove it. Is my fast still valid?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

I pray this finds you in the best of states.

Yes, your fast remains valid because you are not sure that you have swallowed a hair.

This is based on the following legal principle: “Certainty is not lifted by a doubt.” [Ibn Nujaym, al-Ashbah wa al-Nadha’ir; Majallat al-Ahkam al-‘Adiliyya]

This is, in turn, based on the following verse of the Quran:

“Most of them follow nothing but ˹inherited˺ assumptions. ˹And˺ surely assumptions can in no way replace the truth.” [Quran, 10:36] [Du‘ass, al-Qawa‘id al-Fiqhiyya]

This means that if we are sure about something, such as the validity of our worship, which is the basic assumption for all human actions, then we will keep assuming it is valid until we are confident that it is not. Mere possibilities and even likelihoods do not change this.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found. Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others. He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.