What is the ruling of the Shari’ah regarding someone who believes that smoking does not invalidate the fast of a fasting person, relying on several arguments, including the absence of a clear religious text, that smoke does not reach the stomach like food, that saying it breaks the fast would necessitate breaking the fast for one who smells exhaust fumes, and that it provides ease for smokers?

This fatwa contradicts the opinion of the majority of scholars who believe that intentionally allowing smoke to reach the throat invalidates the fast, based on the principle that the use of smoke falls under the category of eating or drinking, both of which are fast-breaking even if not nutritious. Smoke has a tangible body that reaches the internal cavity, and therefore it breaks the fast. The principle of ease (taysir) does not apply to it; rather, it is an opportunity for the smoker to abandon it.