Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is ruling of cupping during the day in Ramadan? الحجامة في نهار رمضان

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions. Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.   As to what follows: In response to your question, we say:     Cupping is bloodletting from the body through a specific way which involves an incision and suction of blood. This process was transmitted in some hadiths like the hadith Shaddad ibn Aws and Thawban that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The cupper and the one who is being cupped have both broken their fasts” [Ibn Majah (1679)]. This is the most authentic hadith that has been transmitted with regards to cupping. Based on this hadith, a number of scholars held that cupping breaks fast. It has been transmitted in Sahih al-Bukhari from the hadith of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was cupped while he was fasting, in a state of ihram [al-Bukhari (1938)]. Some scholars stated that this hadith indicated that cupping is not prohibited because the Prophet (peace be upon him) was cupped while he was fasting, and if cupping nullified fasting, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would not have cupped whilst he was fasting. The scholars adopted different positions based on what was transmitted in different hadiths. Some scholars said that cupping is prohibited and the narration which states that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was cupped “while he was fasting” is not authentic, rather, the authentic narration is the one which states that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was “cupped while he was in a state of ihram”, is the one which was stated by the two Shaykhs, al-Bukhari and Muslim, while al-Bukhari alone added the phrase “while he was fasting.” Other scholars stated that the hadith of ibn ‘Abbas denotes the permission of cupping while fasting, and it abrogated the hadith which stated, “The cupper and the one who is being cupped have both broken their fasts.” However, this approach is not strong because there is no date in the date whereby it can be said, “This hadith is earlier that this one.” Abrogation needs a date and there is no date. The sound approach in this hadith and similar ones, in these issues, is to interpret the action of the Prophet (peace be upon him) [i.e., being cupped while he was fasting] to mean permissibility because of need, and the prohibition of cupping while fasting is interpreted to mean detestability. Therefore, the preponderant opinion from the two opinions of the scholars is what the majority of the scholars, that is, the Hanafites, the Malikites, the Shafi’tes, who held that cupping does not break fast but it is detestable. Issues like blood tests and donating blood take the same ruling. Any form of drawing out blood from the body should be avoided by a fasting person. However, if a person does any of these things, the validity of his fasting will not be affected.   Based on the opinion that cupping is prohibited for a fasting person, if someone does it out of ignorance, this does not affect his fast, because rulings are applicable to a knowledgeable person. Thus the preponderant opinion is that cupping does not break the fast.