Can you brush your teeth or use mouthwash during Ramadan?

Fasting at Ramadan involves refraining from food and drink during daylight hours across a whole month.

The rules on fasting are quite strict, with a long list of unexpected things that can be seen as breaking your fast.

Muslims cannot even sip water during sunlight hours, but does this mean they can’t brush their teeth or use mouthwash?

Here is what you need to know.

Can you use mouthwash or toothpaste during Ramadan?

Unfortunately, the answer is not clean-cut, and depends on the individual’s opinion.

Some Muslims believe that brushing your teeth and gargling with mouthwash when the sun is up is fine as long as you’re not swallowing the toothpaste or the mouthwash.

Sajad Mahmood, CEO of Muslim Charity Charity Right, told Metro.co.uk: ‘Some Muslims abstain from using toothpaste and mouthwash whilst fasting, however, as long as neither product is ingested, there is no official rule stating whether or not these are prohibited.

‘Alternatively, Miswak, a teeth cleaning twig, is used by some to avoid error.’

This is what the Muslim prophet Mohammed is thought to have used to clean his teeth.

The rules on fasting come from the Quran during an ancient time where the option of Colgate, Listerine and the rest were not applicable.

It really depends on how the specific person wishes to interpret the rules of Ramadan.

However, if you want to play it safe, then it might be best to only work on your oral hygiene when the sun is down.

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