May a fasting person smell perfume or incense?
2026-10-13
F145 · Selected fatwas
Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn
الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين
Original Q&A · Full displayed answer
The answer distinguishes smelling fragrance from deliberately inhaling incense smoke into the interior. It does not discuss involuntary exposure or supply a ruling on every inhaled substance.
النص العربي
السؤال الأصلي
فضيلة الشيخ، ما حكم شم الطيب سواء كان من الرذاذ (البخاخ) أو شم الطيب الذي هو البخور؟
الجواب
شم الطيب لا بأس به سواء كان دهنا أم بخورا، لكن إذا كان بخورا، فإنه لا يستنشق دخانه؛ لأن الدخان له جرم ينفذ إلى الجوف، فهو جسم يدخل إلى الجوف فيكون مفطرا كالماء وشبهه، وأما مجرد شمه بدون أن يستنشقه حتى يصل إلى جوفه فلا بأس به.
English translation
English rendering prepared for SalafAlSalih.com from the cited Arabic answer. Not an official translation.
Original question
Esteemed Shaykh, what is the ruling on smelling perfume, whether a spray, or fragrance in the form of incense?
Answer
There is no objection to smelling fragrance, whether perfume oil or incense. With incense, however, he must not inhale its smoke, because the smoke has physical substance that penetrates into the interior. It is a substance that enters the interior and therefore invalidates the fast, like water and similar things. As for merely smelling it without inhaling it so that it reaches his interior, there is no objection.
Source and editorial notes
Fiqh al-ʿIbādāt, 13th edition, 1441 AH, question 160, p.247
فقه العبادات
Fiqh al-ʿIbādāt
Arabic transcribed and compared against the cited scan and adjacent context.