Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
Fasting entails complete abstention from any intake of foods or drinks, including medicines. If you take such medicines, your fasting is rendered null and void.
In responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
Fasting, properly speaking, entails complete abstention from any intake of foods or drinks, including medicines or any other substances that goes to your belly or stomach.
Therefore, if you take such medicines, your fasting is undoubtedly rendered null and void.
If you are suffering from a medical condition that requires taking medicines during the day, then you should skip fasting. You need to offer fidyah (compensation) that entails feeding a poor person for every single day of fast you missed.
If, however, you hope to recover from this condition, then you need not offer fidyah; rather, you can simply make up for the days you have missed later whenever your condition improves and you are able to fast.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.