Ramzan helpline query: Can dyeing hair break the fast?

LUCKNOW: Could a Ramzan fast be broken inadvertently if the ‘rozedar’ dyed his hair or took an injection during the fast? These are some of the many queries flooding the Ramzan helplines these days.

“Colouring hair has nothing to do with the intestine or the food pipe. And injected medicines are fine as along as they don’t enter the digestive track,” explained Sunni cleric maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali to the caller concerned. But no sooner did he keep his phone down, than it buzzed again.

Launched on Friday, the Ramzan helpline for Sunni Muslims has attracted numerous calls already.

People want to know the minutest of details, such as, if the ‘iftari’ (evening meal) ritual could be performed by taking medicines! The imam of Aishbagh Eidgah patiently explained to the caller, “Iftari is best done through dates. If dates

are not there, you can use water. And if water is also not available, then you can use whatever edibles you have.”

Another ‘rozedar’ called up to inquire if he could observe fast

and offer namaz with an open wound. The maulana said that while the wound would not affect fasting, the ‘rozedar’ should make sure to “offer namaz only after performing ‘wazu’ (ablutions)”.

The situation is no different at the Shia helpline, which is also deluged with queries -many of them of peculiar nature. Shia cleric maulana Saif Abbas said a caller asked him that if a person snatched someone else’s water in haste to perform ‘wazu’, would such a ‘wazu’ be considered genuine! Speaking to HT, he said, “I told him that it wouldn’t be right, as the water should be taken only with the owner’s permission.”

Another caller, he said, asked him that if a ‘rozedar’ consumed edibles by mistake, would that result in the fast becoming void? “My answer was that if it was done by mistake, then the ‘roza’ would not be considered void,” he said.

The Ramzan helplines have been launched to assist rozedars and address all their queries.

The helpline for Shias is 9335280700, and the helplines for Sunnis, launched by maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali, are 9335929670, 7007705774 and 9415102947.