Is It Permissible to Use Toothpaste While Fasting? - Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed | Ramadan FAQ

Is It Permissible to Use Toothpaste While Fasting?

Is it permissible to use toothpaste while fasting? This is a question that many of us ask and have in our minds. The answer is yes and no. Yes, it will be permissible to use toothpaste with the condition that it does not go down our throat.

That being said, it is very difficult to use toothpaste without it actually trickling down our throat unless we are experts of using toothpaste. So if we really want to use toothpaste, then make sure it's used minimally on our toothbrush and it does not trickle down our throat — because if it does, it will instantly break our fast.

The Prophetic Guidance on Wudhu for the Fasting Person

The Prophet ﷺ, while speaking about wudhu, has informed us that we should make wudhu in such a way that when we put water into our nose and gargle, that we should do it in a way that it's done extensively.

Doing it extensively is a sunnah of wudhu. But the Prophet ﷺ added a stipulation — that except for a fasting person, that he or she should be more careful while putting water into their mouth or nose, because that water should not trickle down their throat as it will break their fast.

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 142; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 788)

So if this is the ruling for gargling and putting water into our nose, this is also the ruling of using toothpaste — that it should not trickle down our throat.

The Better and More Cautious Approach

So what should we do? The better option for us and the more cautious approach is making sure that we use a miswak or toothbrush without any toothpaste, as this will also remove any foul smell from our mouth and it will protect us from having fear or doubt that our fast is broken.

The Prophet ﷺ has informed us that the smell that comes from the fasting person's mouth is like musk.

In sha'Allah, by doing so, we will also have a smell that we are comfortable with. But if we still feel like the smell is not something we are comfortable with, or we have a meeting that day, or we're going to a specific exam, then use a miswak or use a toothbrush without toothpaste — and hopefully that will do the job.