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My mother has cancer, and every few months, she undergoes a nuclear scan where radiological solutions are injected into her body. Does this scan or the injection break her fast?
Praise be to Allah.
Nuclear scanning for tumors is an imaging technique that studies the biological functions of the body by measuring the energy emitted from a radioactive substance injected prior to the examination. This technique combines positron emission and computed tomography (PET-CT) to evaluate and diagnose conditions throughout the body. The combination of these methods provides highly accurate images that can determine the location of abnormal metabolic activity in the body, offering a more precise diagnosis than either scan alone.
This technique is widely used in various medical fields for both diagnosis and assessment, including evaluating the effectiveness of treatments and determining the best location for a biopsy when necessary.
Additionally, it is a form of nuclear medicine that produces three-dimensional images of organs, detecting any cancerous tumors or metastases, and is also used to inspect functional processes within the body.
Nuclear scanning, along with other imaging methods such as CT scans and MRIs, does not invalidate a person’s fast. Similarly, the dye or radiological solutions used for imaging do not break the fast, as they are not nutritional and do not serve as a substitute for food or drink.
Ibn Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) explained that scholars have categorized things that break the fast as those that function like eating or drinking, such as nutritional injections. Nutritional injections are those that provide sustenance, substituting for food and drink. In contrast, any injections that do not provide sustenance—whether administered intravenously, in the thigh, or elsewhere—do not break the fast (End quote from Majmu` Fatawa wa Rasa’il Al-`Uthaymin, 19/199).
The Islamic Fiqh Academy also issued a decision regarding “Things that break the fast in the context of medical treatment,” stating:
“The following are not considered as breaking the fast: … Therapeutic injections, whether subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intravenous, except for fluids and nutritional injections” (End quote from The Journal of the Academy, Issue 10, Volume Page).
And Allah knows best.