May a fasting person swim or dive into water?
2026-10-13
F140 · Selected fatwas
Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn
الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين
Original Q&A · Full displayed answer
Ibn Uthaymeen gives his view and explains why some scholars considered this disliked. This answer does not discuss deliberately swallowing water.
النص العربي
السؤال الأصلي
فضيلة الشيخ، ما حكم العوم للصائم أو الغوص في الماء؟
الجواب
لا بأس أن يغوص الصائم في الماء أو يعوم فيه يسبح؛ لأن ذلك ليس بالمفطرات، والأصل الحل حتى يقوم دليل على الكراهة أو على التحريم، وليس هناك دليل على التحريم ولا على الكراهة، وإنما كرهه بعض أهل العلم خوفا من أن يدخل إلى حلقه شيء وهو لا يشعر 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 a fasting person swimming or diving into water?
Answer
There is no objection to a fasting person diving into water or swimming in it, because that is not among the things that invalidate fasting. The basic ruling is permissibility until evidence establishes that it is disliked or prohibited. There is no evidence here establishing prohibition or dislike. Some scholars only considered it disliked out of fear that something might enter his throat without his noticing.
Source and editorial notes
Fiqh al-ʿIbādāt, 13th edition, 1441 AH, question 152, p.243
فقه العبادات
Fiqh al-ʿIbādāt
Arabic transcribed and compared against the cited scan and adjacent context.