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Does Having Taste of Blood in One’s Mouth Invalidate the Fast?

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Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question: I am having a lot of problems with bleeding in the mouth and am worried about the validity of my fasting. Sometimes the blood is majority of the saliva and sometimes not.I wake up with a bad taste in my mouth and my spit is yellow and then blood appears.
Does the taste break the fast?
Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.
In general, swallowing the blood would nullify the fast.
The taste in and of itself does not invalidate anything. We act on the basis of certainty, and certainty is not lifted by doubts. The basis is that your fasts are valid and sound. If you taste blood in your mouth, simply spit out, rinse your mouth, and continue on with your day. Don’t try to investigate the issue.
I’d also consider visiting a dentist to determine why you have bleeding gums.
Please see: Bleeding Gums While Fasting and: Constantly Bleeding Gums & Fasting

And Allah alone gives success.
wassalam,
Tabraze Azam
Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

Bleeding Gums While Fasting

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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

Bleeding Gums and Wudu

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Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: My gums sometimes bleed whilst I am performing wudu. For example, I will have just rinsed my mouth and nose and I can taste the taste of blood. This tells me that my gums are bleeding but it is a small amount and stops almost as soon as it started. In such cases, do I need to start my wudhu all over again?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

I pray that you are well, insha’Allah.

Your ablution (wudu) would be nullified if redness preponderated in your saliva. The sign of which is if you were to spit, the redness of the blood would predominate over your saliva. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

Ignore any misgivings. Either the redness predominates or it does not. There is no third option.

And Allah alone gives success.

Wassalam

Tabraze Azam

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

Constantly Bleeding Gums & Fasting

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Answered by Waseem Hussain

Question: My gums always bleeds when I’m sleeping. This always invalidates my wudu, since the saliva is red. I also heard that if I swallow unintentionally the red saliva, my fast is broken. I don’t know what to do and it creates hardship for me, and I have another strong problem, which is waswasa in my worship. I’m afraid to swallow red saliva, so during all the day, I spit out non stop…

Answer: Walaikum Salam Warahmatullah

Your fast has not been invalidated. The default is that you have not swallowed clear red-saliva and there is no reason to assume you have unless you are absolutely 100% certain that it happened.

You are not required to check your saliva all the time to see whether it is clearly red or not. Therefore, you are not required to spit out all the time and you can safely assume that there is nothing in the saliva.

Even if it would happen, then if you have a special condition that entails constant bleeding from the mouth, like having a tooth pulled out or having had a root canal or the like then swallowing the saliva will not invalidate the fast.

And Allah knows best,

Waseem

[Ibn `Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar 6:265; Ibn Malak, Sharh al-Tuhfa 2:1283; Zaili, Hadiyat al-Sa’luk 128]

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani