Brushing the Teeth in General While Fasting The Prophet of Islam, Mohammed (pbuh) has

stated, “Were it not for the hardship that I would be

placing upon my people, I would have ordered them
Brushing the teeth during fasting is permissible to engage in siwaak for every prayer.” (Bukhari
and an established practice of the Prophet and Muslim)
Muhammed (pbuh).

The Muslim Doctor 

Rabi’ah (ra) states, “I seen the Prophet (pbuh) on
countless occassions, brushing his teeth with the The Muslim doctor shares with the Muslim patient
siwaak (tooth stick), while he was in the state of the two main characteristic: the faith in God and
fasting” (Tirmidhi) destiny, and the conviction that there is a cure for
every disease. But the doctor must have something
more; he is supposed to know, or at least try to
Abd Al Rahman Ibn Ghanam (ra) says, “I asked
know, the proper diagnosis and the proper cure. He
Muadh Ibn Jabal (ra), shall I brush my teeth while in
must be aware of his mission or commission
the state of fasting?”, He replied, “Yes”. I asked,
entrusted to him in his capacity as the agent of
“Which time of the day?”, He replied, “Through out
healing. Being and agent, he believes that the act of
the day.”, I objected, “The people dislike brushing
healing is not entirely his, but depends on God's
the teeth during the day and they say the Messenger
will. It seems to me that medical doctors are more
of Allah said, ‘The smell emanating from the mouth
aware than others of the divine power and God's
of the one fasting is better with Allah then the smell
will. They meet every day with cases where destiny
of musk.'” Muadh Ibn Jabal then said, “Subhan
plays the major part, and they encounter the most
Allah, the Prophet (pbuh) instructed people to brush
unexpected results. Yasir narrates that the
the teeth, and it is not from the command of the
Prophet that people deliberately leave their mouths Prophet  said: "For each disease there is a cure:
dry (and filthy). There is no goodness whatsoever in and when the (right) treatment is given, the disease
that but in fact there is bad in it.” (Tabraani, is cured by the Will of Allah" (Ahmad and Muslim).
Talkhees) The art of healing, which is called the medical
profession in modern language, has been highly
Brushing With Tooth Paste respected all through the ages. For a long period in
human history this art was closely correlated with
religious leadership and quite often confluent with
Brushing the teeth with toothpaste would also be magic and miracles. Since the advent of Islam 1400
permissible with the condition that, the tooth paste years ago, medicine has become a science subject of
and its reminance are not swallowed. Some human intelligence and discovery. Nevertheless, the
contemporary scholars have listed the brushing of medical doctor has persistently captured the
the teeth with tooth paste, as a ‘makruh'(disliked) appreciation and respect of his contemporaries,
action, due to the fact that it is very difficult to avoid especially as medicine was usually associated with
the lasting taste that remains after brushing. other philosophical and social knowledge. In fact
this close marriage between philosophy and
medicine distinguished the medical history of Islam.
Swallowing tooth paste or its taste while in the state The gist here is that a doctor's prognosis included
of fasting would invalidate the fast. the spiritual, psychological and social sides of the
patient over and above the pathological aspects. I
earnestly believe that in an Islamic state, all Muslim
Ibn Abbas (ra) and Ikramah (ra) have stated “The doctors in course of their everyday practice, and
fast is invalidated by what enters the internal when dealing with Muslim patients in particular,
stomach cavity.” (Bukhari) should keep this traditional prognostic attitude in
mind. I am sure, if they do they will never regret the
My humble suggestions, to rid any offensive odour act.
of the mouth, are one of the following: But what is it that makes a Muslim doctor different
from other non-Muslim doctors? From the
 Brush your teeth with tooth paste just technological and scientific points of view, all
before the beginning time of the fast, at doctors fall in one category. However, when it
dawn, after the suhoor (pre-dawn meal). comes to practice, the Muslim doctor finds himself
bound by particular professional ethics plus his
 Use the sunnah siwaak (tooth
Islamic directives issuing from his belief. In fact, the
stick) without tooth paste through out the
Muslim doctor - and I mean b this that doctor who
day.
tries to live his Islam by following its teachings all
 Use the toothbrush during the day,
through - is expected to behave differently on some
with very little tooth paste applied on the
occasions and to meet greater responsibilities
toothbrush. Ensure the mouth is rinsed
compared to other non-Muslim doctors.
properly thereafter, so no reminance or
taste of the paste is swallowed.
1.     The Public Responsibility:  A Muslim doctor
is supposed to belong to a Muslim community where study of the Islamic science of "Usul" would give
there is some common cause, common feelings and the doctors the main principles of analogy, "Qias",
mutual solidarity. "Believers are brethren" (Quran preferential application (Istihsan) and juristic
49:10). God also says: initiation (Istihsan).
"And hold fast all of you together to the Rope of The importance of such knowledge becomes
Allah, and be not divided among yourselves; and conspicuous when the subject of the issue is purely
remember Allah's favor on you, for you were technical and this lies beyond the reach of the
enemies and He joined your hearts together, so that normal religious scholar. Besides, there are many
by His Grace you become brethren..." (Quran secondary questions that arise in the course of
3:103). dealing with patients where the personal judgment
of the doctor is the only arbiter. There, as always,
The implication is that the Muslim doctor is a the doctor needs a criterion on which he can build
member in a Muslim community where the healthy his code of behavior and the ethics of his medical
body of the individual is crucial for its survival and procedure.
development. The doctor has a big say and great
weight in influencing his patients and in righteously To conclude, the role of the Muslim doctor is briefly
guiding their orientation. In a country like USA to place his profession in service of his religion. To
where we live, the best service that a medical this end, he must know both: medicine and Islam.
practitioner can render is to behave all the time in
 Adapted from the book "Islamic perspectives in
accordance with his Islamic beliefs, to declare his
medicine". A collection of essays compiled by
conviction , and to be proud of it. Thus he can be a
Shahid Athar, M.D.
good model for others to win their confidence and
hearts.
2.     Faith and Healing: By accepting the fact that
Allah is the healer - and that the doctor is only an
agent, both patients - irrespective of their creeds -
and their doctors, fight their battle of treatment with
less agony and tension. I think it is an established
fact that such spiritual conviction does improve the
psychological state of the patient and boost his
morale, and thus help him overcame his physical
weakness and sickness. There are many examples
where faith plays an important part in the process of
healing. In my opinion, a Muslim doctor must make
his faith the backbone of his healing career.
3.     Reprehensible, Prohibited and Permissible
Acts: More than any other professional, the Muslim
medical doctor is confronted frequently with
questions concerning the Islamic legitimacy of his
activities. There are diverse daily controversial
problematic issues on which he is supposed to take a
stand: e.g., birth control, abortions, opposite sex
hormonal injections, transsexual operations, brain
operations affecting human personality, plastic
surgery changing physionomy, extra-uterine
conception, etc. 
The Muslim doctor should not be guided in such
issues merely by the law of the county. He must also
find the answer is not an easy matter, especially if
the doctor himself has no reasonably solid
background in the field of Islamic teachings. Yet, to
gain such knowledge is very simple and would not
consume much time as generally presumed.
In general, every Muslim must have a preliminary
knowledge of what is reprehensible and what is
prohibited. One has to admit that our early
education as individuals is very deficient in this
regard. But this does not justify our ignorance of the
essentials of our religion and our indifference
towards its injunctions. There is no difficulty
nowadays to obtain a few reference books about our
Shari'ah and to find out the answers to most - if not
all - our medical queries. The most preliminary