Does using an inhaler break my fast?
For most scholars today, no: a normal asthma inhaler does not break your fast. The puff is a tiny amount of medicine that goes to the lungs, not food or drink to the stomach. Some scholars disagree, so if you can easily take your doses at suhoor and iftar, that is the safest option.
Why most scholars say it's fine
A fast is broken by eating, drinking and sexual intercourse, and by things that count as the same, such as something deliberately swallowed into the stomach. A metered-dose inhaler (the common "puffer") releases a very small mist that is mostly air and is aimed at the airways. Only a trace, if anything, reaches the throat, which is often compared to the bit of water left in your mouth after rinsing during wudu.
Because of this, many modern bodies, including the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, have said that asthma inhalers do not break the fast. This is also the view of many well-known Saudi, Egyptian and European scholars. The same reasoning is used for brushing your teeth carefully. See Can I brush my teeth while fasting?
The other view
Some scholars, especially from the Hanafi school and some others, say that any substance deliberately taken in through the mouth or nose that reaches the throat breaks the fast, even a small amount of medicine. On that view, a person who needs an inhaler during the day would make up the fast later.
Both views come from serious scholarship. If your local imam or your community follows one of them, it is fine to follow it.
Inhalers, nebulizers and oxygen
- Puffer or dry powder inhaler: does not break the fast according to the majority of contemporary scholars.
- Nebulizer: delivers much more liquid as a mist over several minutes. Many scholars say this breaks the fast, so try to schedule it outside fasting hours.
- Pure oxygen: is just air and does not break the fast.
Your health comes first
Never skip an inhaler you need to stay safe. Islam does not ask you to risk an asthma attack to keep a fast, and a person who is ill can break the fast and make it up later. If your asthma is severe or unstable, talk to your doctor before Ramadan and follow their advice. See Do I have to fast during Ramadan if I have diabetes? for how the rules for illness work.
- Most contemporary scholars say a normal asthma inhaler does not break the fast.
- A minority, including many Hanafi scholars, say it does, so the fast is made up later.
- Nebulizers are treated more strictly; use them outside fasting hours if you can.
- Never risk your breathing to keep a fast; follow your doctor's advice.
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