If one took a pill before dawn, at the suhur time, and after al-Fajr prayer call, s/he felt it stuck in the throat. In such a case, is their fasting valid or invalid?

Answer

Praise Be to Allah and Peace Be Upon His Messenger.

Referring to your question, if one takes a pill and it passes the throat while they only feel that it is stuck, their fasting is valid. However, if it is actually stuck and you can take it out; in other words, you can safely take it out, but you choose to swallow it, you break the fast. All you need to do, if you break your fast, is preventing yourself from drinking or eating, respecting the day of Ramadan, and then make up the day after Ramadan.

Shaikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussain, the General Mufti (Muslim Legal Scholar), in the Palestinian Legal Verdict Council, was once asked a similar question, his answer was: if water reaches the oral cavity of a fasting person during ablution, what will happen? He replies that, initially, water should not reach to the oral cavity depending on the prophetic hadith: “and sniff water deep into the nose except when you are observing fast.” Related by Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi.