What if I eat or drink by mistake while fasting?

The hadith that settles it

The Prophet ﷺ stated the ruling directly, and it is one of the most firmly established narrations on fasting:

"Whoever forgets while he is fasting and eats or drinks, let him complete his fast, for it is Allah who has fed him and given him drink."— Sahih al-Bukhari 1933 and Sahih Muslim 1155, from Abu Hurayrah

The wording is decisive. The Prophet ﷺ did not say "let him make it up" or "let him atone" — he said let him complete his fast. And he gave the reason: the act is not attributed to the person at all, but to Allah, who provided the food and drink. Ibn Baz notes that this hadith is among the most authentic narrations from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and that the Prophet ﷺ thereby made the forgetful person's action something that does not break his worship.

Why the scholars hold this

The reasoning rests on a principle of the Shari'ah that runs through many acts of worship: a person who does something prohibited out of forgetfulness is not held to account for it. The scholars cite the Qur'anic supplication:

"Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or fall into error."— Qur'an 2:286

And they note that Allah answered this supplication. The Prophet ﷺ reported that Allah said, "I have done so." Since the forgetful person is not a sinner, he has not committed a prohibited act within his fast — and worship is only invalidated by committing a prohibition or abandoning an obligation. Ibn Taymiyyah, as reported by Ibn al-Qayyim, argued that this is in fact the consistent application of the law, not an exception to it: the same principle means that someone who speaks in prayer forgetfully does not invalidate his prayer, and someone who applies perfume or covers his head while in ihram forgetfully owes no expiation.

Ibn 'Uthaymeen drew out the point sharply: the act of the forgetful person is not really his act at all, so it is as if it never happened.

What you must do the moment you remember

The concession lasts only as long as the forgetfulness does. Ibn 'Uthaymeen explains that the moment you remember, you must stop immediately — and if there is food or drink still in your mouth, you must spit it out. The reason is that the excuse the Lawgiver granted has now ended, and the obligation to refrain returns.

So the sequence is:

1. While forgetful — eat or drink freely; the fast is not broken.
2. The instant you remember — stop at once, even mid-bite or mid-sip.
3. Afterwards — complete the fast to sunset, and make nothing up.

It applies to every kind of fast

The ruling is not limited to Ramadan. Ibn Baz states it covers Ramadan, make-up fasts, vowed fasts and expiatory fasts alike. IslamWeb adds that it makes no difference whether the fast is obligatory or voluntary — the texts are general, and the same reasoning applies to the voluntary fasts of the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah or any other time.

The hadith mentions eating and drinking as examples, not as an exhaustive list. Ibn 'Uthaymeen notes that other nullifiers fall under the same ruling, and Ibn Baz cites the narration: "Whoever breaks his fast in Ramadan forgetfully, there is no make-up and no expiation for him" — a wording that covers intercourse and everything else. He adds that even if a man were to have intercourse with his wife forgetfully, thinking dawn had not yet come, his fast remains valid in the soundest view of the scholars.

If you see someone else doing it

This is a separate matter, and the answer is not to stay silent. Ibn Baz ruled that you must remind the person, because openly eating or drinking during the day of fasting is a wrong that should be corrected — even if the person is genuinely excused. The reason is protective: if such behaviour went unchallenged, people would grow bold about openly violating the fast and would claim forgetfulness as a cover. The same logic, he notes, applies to a traveller who is permitted to break his fast but should not do so openly among residents who do not know his situation.

Where the schools differ

The majority position is not the only one recorded. The Maliki school took a different view on one point:

Al-Mughni records that Rabi'ah and Malik held the forgetful person's fast broken, reasoning that what invalidates the fast when done deliberately should invalidate it when done by mistake — as with intercourse. The majority answered that the hadith is explicit and that the analogy fails: the Prophet ﷺ attributed the act to Allah, not to the person. Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, himself a Maliki, records that the more carefully verified position of Malik's school is that the fast is sound. Ibn Qudamah and the Hanbali scholars judged the majority view stronger, and Ibn 'Uthaymeen affirmed it.

Key takeaways

• Eating or drinking forgetfully does not break your fast — complete it and make up nothing.
• Stop the instant you remember, even if the food or drink is still in your mouth.
• The ruling covers every fast — Ramadan, make-up, vowed, expiatory and voluntary alike.
• Other nullifiers fall under the same ruling when done forgetfully, not just food and drink.
• Remind anyone you see eating forgetfully, even though they are excused, so that the fast is not treated lightly in public.

Further reading

• Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni
• Ibn 'Uthaymeen, Fath Dhi al-Jalal wa al-Ikram (commentary on Bulugh al-Maram)
• Ibn Baz, Majmu' al-Fatawa wa Maqalat Mutanawwi'ah

And Allah knows best.