Wearing lenses and putting lubricants in the eyes while fasting

27/07/2010| IslamWeb

Question:

Can we wear lences while fasting note that we have to put lubricant every four hour?

 

 

Fatwa:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

 

We have already issued Fatwa 81664 clarifying that it is permissible to wear contact lenses while fasting and that wearing them does not invalidate the fast. As regards the solution which you mentioned, if you mean that this solution is put in the eye, then this takes the ruling of the eye drop. The scholars differed in opinion about the eye drop, some are of the view that it invalidates the fast while others are not of this opinion.

The Fiqh Encyclopaedia reads: "Putting eye drops, oiling the eyelids, and putting medicine with oil in the eye, none of this invalidates the fast even if one feels their taste in his throat. This is the correct opinion according to the Hanafi School of jurisprudence, and the opinion of the Shaafi'ee School appears to correspond with the Hanafi view. However, the Maaliki and Hanbali Schools of jurisprudence are of the view that putting eye drops invalidates fasting if these drops reach the throat, as the eye is an access even if it is not a usual one."

In our view in Islamweb, we consider the preponderant opinion to be the first one which is that putting eye drops does not invalidate fasting, and this is the opinion that Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah had chosen. This is in case the drops or the solution which you mentioned in the question reaches the throat, whereas if it does not reach the throat, then it does not break the fast even according to the Schools which are of the view that fasting is invalidated if the eye drops reach the throat.

For instance, 'Aleesh from the Maaliki School of jurisprudence, said: "One should not apply eyeliner (i.e. kohl) and should not put oil in his ear unless he knows that it does not reach his throat, and if one applies the antimony or any other item, it is permissible if this does not reach the throat."

To conclude, it is permissible to put the solution in the eye when wearing the contact lenses and this does not invalidate the fast according to the most preponderant opinion of the scholars .

Allah Knows best.