The ruling on Cupping for the fasting Person and the ruling on Blood coming out of him

Question

The Prophet's statement:

"The person who performs cupping and the one who gets cupped both break their fast.” (Abu Dawud no 2367)

Is this an authentic Hadith? If it is authentic what is its explanation?

Answer

This Hadith is authentic. It was graded authentic by Imam Ahmad and others. It means that if the fasting person performs cupping on someone else, he breaks his fast, and if someone else cups him (the fasting person), he breaks his fast. This is because cupping involves the person performing the cupping and the person who is getting cupped.

The person who is getting cupped is the one from whom blood is withdrawn and the one performing the cupping is the person who extracts the blood. Thus, if the fast is an obligatory fast, it is not permissible for the fasting person to get himself cupped because it necessitates breaking a fast that is obligatory upon him. The only exception is if there is a necessity that calls for that, such as the blood agitating him and causing some hardship on him. In this case there is no harm in the person getting cupped and he considers himself as breaking his fast. He makes up for that day and he may eat and drink during the rest of the day, because everyone who breaks his fast with an Islamically legislated excuse that allows fast breaking, then it is permissible for him to eat for the rest of the day. That is because this day during which the Legislator, i.e., Allah allows him to break his fast is not a day that he is obligated to abstain (from food, drink, etc.) as is necessitated by the evidences of the Islamic law.

At this appropriate time I would like to mention that some of the people go too far in this matter. This is such that if some of them even get a slight scratch from which a little blood comes out, they think that this invalidates their fast. However, this thinking is not correct. Rather we say that verily the excretion of blood, when it comes out by other than your doing, it has no effect on you regardless of whether it was a lot or a little. So, if a person has a nosebleed and a lot of blood comes out of him, then verily that does not harm. Also, if a person has a wound and it bursts and a lot of blood comes out of it, that does not harm. If a person is injured in an accident and a lot of blood comes out of him, that does not harm, nor does he break his fast by that. This is because the blood came out against his will.

If the person himself caused the blood to come out by his choice, then if that blood necessitates what cupping necessitates, such as weakness of the body and declining of the strength, then it breaks the fast. This is because there is no difference between it and cupping in meaning. If the blood is only a small amount that the body is not affected by, then it does not harm, nor does it break the fast, like if blood comes out of a person due to his own will or something similar. Verily this does not harm nor does it break the fast. It is obligatory on every person to know the limits of what Allah has revealed to His Messenger (Sallallahu Alayhi wa Sallam) so that he may worship Allah upon clear-sighted guidance.

And Allah is the Giver of success.


Shaikh Ibn Uthaimin (Rahimahullah)

Reference: Fatawa Islamiyah Volume 3 Pages 273-274