for a person who wishes to undergo cupping to take precautions and choose someone known to be skilled in cupping, lest his blood continue to flow without his realizing it.

The scholars have differed greatly concerning this issue, and it is one of the distinctive positions of Imam Ahmad. The majority of scholars hold that cupping does not invalidate the fast, citing both textual reports and rational consideration. As for the reports, they say that it is established in al-Bukhari, on the authority of Ibn Abbas, that the Prophet ﷺ “was cupped while fasting, and was cupped while in a state of ihram” (1). They also cite other hadiths narrated by Anas and others, some of which explain that cupping had initially been prohibited because of weakness (2), and was then permitted.

Those who hold that it invalidates the fast cite the hadith of Shaddad ibn Aws and others, in which the Prophet ﷺ said: “The one who performs cupping and the one who is cupped have broken their fast” (3).

Some scholars declared this hadith weak, saying that it is not authentically established from the Prophet ﷺ. Whoever regards it as weak neither cites it as evidence nor acts upon it, because it does not