How does water reach the brain from the ear to break the fast of a fasting person, and does it break the fast by water entering the ear canal, or by water entering the ear in such a way that it does not exit except by shaking the head? And what is the meaning of deliberately opening the mouth until dust enters the body cavity, which breaks the fast, and is it deliberately not closing the mouth despite seeing the dust, or deliberately allowing dust to enter the mouth by opening it?

The Shafi‘is clarified that merely the entry of water into the ear canal invalidates the fast, arguing that it reaches the inside of the cranium, which is an internal cavity. However, another opinion within the Shafi‘i school, corrected by Al-Ghazali, holds that it does not invalidate the fast because there is no open passage from the ear to the brain; rather, it reaches it through pores, similar to kohl. This differs from the nose, through which snuff can reach the brain via an open passage.