Surgery under anaesthesia while fasting

A question about surgery under anaesthesia while fasting, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that anaesthesia itself does not break the fast, provided the patient is not under it for the whole day, but that another fast-breaking act may occur during the operation and require making the day up. ¹

The questioner asked whether undergoing surgery under anaesthesia invalidates the fast. ¹

The Department answered that anaesthesia itself does not break the fast, because anaesthetic gases have no physical substance, and anaesthetic injections under the skin are likewise. ¹ It set the condition that the patient not remain under anaesthesia for the whole day: if he was awake at the start of the day his fast is valid, and likewise if he wakes after the operation even a moment before sunset. ¹ It said that something else that breaks the fast may occur during an operation, such as substances entering the interior, and if that happens he must make the day up. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4152, dated 2 February 2026. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.