Does anesthesia (full or partial) break the fast?

Answer

Praise Be to Allah and Peace Be Upon His Messenger.

If anesthesia is accompanied with intravenous feeding, then it breaks the fast, and you must make the day up. However, invalidating the fast is not due to anesthesia; it is due to intravenous feeding which is injected into your body via veins. In general, the full anesthesia is usually accompanied with these solutions to avoid dehydration which in return lead to invalidating the fast.

Muslim World League which is affiliated to Organization of Islamic Conference decided in its tenth session (decision 93) that anesthesia without being accompanied with intravenous feeding does not break the fast.

There are different rulings related to anesthesia which is not accompanied with intravenous feeding whether it is partial or full:

First: Partial Anesthesia: There are different types:

1. Chinese Anesthesia:

It is performed by inserting dry needles below the skin which make a number of glands secrete morphine naturally; thus, the patient will lose the ability to feel. This type of partial anesthesia does not break the fast as there will not be any substance that enters or reaches the oral cavity.

2. Anesthesia by injection:

It is performed by inserting a substance below the surface of the skin or in the area where nerves are available which in return totally numbs that area; this type does not break the fast as there will not be any substance that enters or reaches the oral cavity.

3. Inhalational anesthetic:

It is performed when the patient inhales a gas that affects their nerves and numbs them for a short period of time; this type does not break the fast as there will not be any substance that enters or reaches the oral cavity.

Thus, all types of partial anesthesia do not invalidate the fast.

Second: Full Anesthesia:

Full anesthesia happens when the patient loses the sense totally and cannot feel anything. They are put in a sleep-like state. This type is used when performing major operations which need a long period of time.

This type of anesthesia does not break the fast anesthetic is not similar to foods or drinks; it is usually performed by injecting the patient in veins or by letting them inhale a gas. In both cases, there will be nothing that reaches the oral cavity, and thus it does not invalidate the fast.

Thus, if a patient suffers from blackout (totally loses consciousness) because of anesthesia, their situation regarding the fast will be compared to anyone who loses consciousness not because of anesthetic.

The Hanafi school sees that the fast is valid if the patient intends to fast the night before even if the patient stays asleep all day.

The Shafi’i and the Hanbali schools see that a patient who loses their consciousness should wake up at least for a short period of time in addition to intending to fast; thus, their fast is valid.

The Maliki school sees that a patient who loses his consciousness should wake up at least half of the day to keep their fast valid.

Therefore, the majority of scholars see that if a patient intends to fast and then loses their consciousness, but wakes up for at least a short period of time, their fast is valid. In contrast, if the patient does not wake up at all, their fast is invalid.

The most preponderant opinion  is whoever intends to fast and then loses their conscious naturally or because of anesthesia but wakes up for a part of the day their fast is valid.

The majority of scholars who met in Rabat in the ninth Medical Jurisprudential Seminar in 1997 agreed upon this: whoever intends to fast, and has to undergo a major operation which requires full anesthesia, their fast is valid.