555 – Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The first occasion on which cupping was deemed disliked for the fasting person was when Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib had himself cupped while fasting. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by and said, ‘These two have broken their fast.’ Later the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) allowed cupping for the fasting person, and Anas himself used to undergo cupping while fasting.” Reported by al-Dāraquṭnī, who declared it sound (1).

Status of the two ḥadiths

Both ḥadiths (554 and 555) are authentic.

Imām Aḥmad and al-Bukhārī said of the statement, “The cupper and the one being cupped have broken their fast,” that it is the soundest report on the topic. Imām Aḥmad added that the various chains for “The cupper and the one being cupped have broken their fast” strengthen one another. Al-Ṭaḥāwī and others held that these narrations are mass-transmitted from several Companions. Shaykh al-Islām noted that the reports are numerous and have been clarified by the leading ḥadith authorities. Ibn al-Qayyim, in his commentary on Sunan Abī Dāwūd, wrote: “What is firmly established is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) underwent cupping while in a state of iḥrām; as for the wording ‘while fasting,’ Imām Aḥmad said it is not sound and explained that it is a mistake, and others agreed. What is authentically reported in the two Ṣaḥīḥs is: ‘He underwent cupping while in iḥrām.’” End quote.

He also said in al-Mughnī: “The ḥadith ‘The cupper and the one being cupped have broken their fast’ was narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by eleven transmitters.”

As for the ḥadith of Shaddād ibn Aws, it was declared authentic by scholars in addition to those already cited, such as Isḥāq, Ibn al-Madīnī, Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Ḥākim, ʿUthmān al-Dārimī; and al-Zaylaʿī said that it is transmitted through