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What is the ruling on using "shamah" (chewing tobacco) which is placed inside the mouth under the lower lip for a fasting person? Does it break the fast, and what is incumbent upon one who used it during the Ramadan fast to treat anxiety? Is he required to make up the fast or offer expiation?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Shamma is unburnt tobacco and may be mixed with other substances. Its ruling is the same as that of smoke (cigarettes), and it is forbidden due to its foulness, its harm to health, and its squandering of money. It invalidates the fast because it dissolves and enters the stomach with saliva. Its user must make up the days he missed fasting in Ramadan, unless he was ignorant that it invalidates the fast.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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