Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is the ruling of using incense and perfumes during fasting? ما حكم البخور والعطر أثناء الصيام؟

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   Allah the Exalted has shown the nullifiers of fasting in His book and the Sunnah also explained them. Allah mentioned the principle nullifiers of fasting: “So now, have relations with them and seek that which Allah has decreed for you” [al-Baqarah 2:187], this is a nullifier of fasting:“and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night) then complete your Saum (fast) till the nightfall” [al-Baqarah 2:187].  Thus the nullifiers of fasting are sexual intercourse, eating and drinking. According to some scholars the Sunnah added that cupping is a nullifier of fasting. Another nullifier is vomiting, and that is ejecting what is in the stomach, and that is the opinion of the majority of the scholars.  Some scholars have indicated that there is a consensus of opinion about this issue. What I mean is that we should not say that a thing is a nullifier of fasting unless there is proof to that effect. There is no proof that incense and perfumes nullify fasting, and what is stated that incense has some particles which rise up and form a knot in the throat is not correct.  If incense was a nullifier of fasting the Prophet (peace be upon him) would have indicated that, especially since incense was present during his time, and it is not a novel matter whereby we can say, “It was not present during his lifetime”, or that the people of his time did know about it. Thus what is required is that we should not say that a thing breaks fasting unless we have evidence to prove so. If there is no evidence, the principle is that fasting is not broken. What is the ruling of breaking fast before sunset? If athaan is made before sunset by a minute, a moment, or half a minute; then it is not permissible to break fast at all because the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “ When the night approaches from this side (i.e., the east) and the day retreats from that side (i.e., west) and the sun sets, then it is time for a person observing Saum (fasting) to break his fast” [al-Bukhari (1954) and Muslim (1100)]. Allah the Exalted said, “and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), then complete your Saum (fast) till the nightfall” [al-Baqarah 2:187]. Night is established by the setting of the sun’s sphere. Thus whoever knowingly breaks his fast before the setting of sun, his fast is invalidated. If he breaks his fast while doubting whether the sun has set or not then his fast is also broken because he is not permitted to eat at the time of doubt, rather, he should be certain and wait until it is most likely that the sun has set, or until he is certain of that.   If a person breaks his fast based on the fact that it was most likely that the sun had set, like if there are clouds in a place where there are no muezzins, then it becomes clear that the sun has not set; then the scholars have two opinions on this. Firstly, he is excused for breaking the fast, and when it becomes apparent that the sun has not set, then it is compulsory for him to refrain from engaging in any nullifiers of fasting until the sun sets. However, the scholars differed into two opinions on whether it is compulsory for him to make up for the missed day or not. The majority of the scholars held that it is compulsory for him to make up for that day. A group of scholars were of the opinion that it is not incumbent upon him to make up for that day based on what was narrated in an authentic hadith by Asma that she said, “We broke our fast during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him) on a cloudy day and then the sun appeared" [al-Bukhari (1959)] , and when Hisham, the narrator of the hadith was asked, “Did they make up for the day”. He said, “They must have made up for it.” This is his opinion and it is not Asma’s statement because it was not transmitted that she said that they were ordered to make up for that day. This is based on the principle that whoever breaks his fast out of ignorance of the ruling or because he does not know that the sun has not set, then there is no blame upon him and his fasting is valid, and he is not required to make up for that day.