the textual evidence could support it. Avoiding it would then be a matter of precaution. Otherwise, we would have to deem disliked every issue in which there is disagreement, in order to avoid disagreement; and disliked matters would become exceedingly numerous, for one can hardly find an issue in which there is no disagreement. In this case, however, there is no evidence indicating that collecting one’s saliva and swallowing it invalidates the fast. When there is no evidence, it is not valid to base the reasoning on mere disagreement.

Accordingly, we say: if a person collects his saliva and swallows it, this is not disliked, nor should it be said that his fast has thereby been diminished. For if we were to say that it is disliked, that would necessarily mean that the fast is deficient because a disliked act was done during it.

It is understood from the author’s words that if he swallows his saliva without first collecting it, there is no dislike in that, and this is clear. Accordingly, one is not required to spit after rinsing the mouth, after drinking water at the Fajr call to prayer, or when saliva accumulates due to recitation. As far as we know, it was not known of the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—that when a person drank at the onset of dawn, he would spit until the taste of the water had gone. Rather, this is overlooked. But if the taste of food remains, such as the sweetness of dates or the like, then he must spit it out and not swallow it.

His statement, “It is forbidden to swallow phlegm”: swallowing phlegm is forbidden for both the fasting person and the non-fasting person, because it is repulsive and may carry illnesses that have emerged from the body. If you return it to the stomach, that may harm you. The matter is even more emphatic for the fasting person, because it invalidates his fast. Hence he said:

“It invalidates the fast only if it reaches his mouth.” His use of “only” here serves to exclude saliva, for saliva, even if abundant, does not invalidate a person’s fast.