Nicotine pouches during Ramadan: what the sources say (and where schol - Snus Vikings

A note on scope and sensitivity

Ramadan guidance sits at the intersection of fiqh (Islamic law), personal health, and community practice. This article does not attempt to issue religious rulings. Instead, it compiles statements from identifiable sources and explains how different conclusions are reached. Where scholars differ, you’ll see the divergence clearly, and the safest next step is always to consult your own imam or trusted scholar, ideally within your madhhab/community.

For Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a sacred month of fasting, reflection, prayer, and self-discipline. From dawn (Fajr) until sunset (Maghrib), those observing the fast abstain from food, drink, and other physical needs as an act of worship and spiritual renewal.

Beyond refraining from eating and drinking, Ramadan is also a time to cultivate mindfulness, strengthen faith, and avoid actions that may undermine the purpose of the fast.

As new products such as nicotine pouches have become more widely available, many Muslims have begun asking how these modern alternatives fit within the established rules of fasting.

Do nicotine pouches invalidate the fast?
Are nicotine pouches treated the same as smoking?
How do different scholars interpret nicotine pouch use during Ramadan?

To understand the issue properly, it is important to explore both the principles of fasting in Islamic law and the range of scholarly opinions that apply those principles to contemporary nicotine products.

Ramadan fasting basics (why “what breaks a fast” is debated so carefully)

Islamic fasting (ṣawm/ṣiyām) is commonly described as abstaining from “food, drink, sexual activity, and anything that substitutes food and drink.” Wikipedia

That phrasing matters because later discussions often turn on questions like:

Is something “eating/drinking”?
Does it “substitute for” eating/drinking?
Is it entering the body in a way the law treats like eating or drinking?
Is it a “substance” with taste/particles that is swallowed?
Is absorption through the mouth treated like ingestion?

Nicotine products (smoking, vaping, gum/lozenges, pouches, patches) land in different places on those questions, which is why you’ll see strong consensus in some areas and active disagreement in others.

Two separate questions people often mix up

When people ask “Are nicotine pouches allowed in Ramadan?”, they often mean one (or both) of these:

A) Does it invalidate the fast? (fiqh of ṣawm)

This is about whether a fast remains valid from dawn to sunset.

B) Is it halal/haram/makrūh overall? (ethical/legal judgement outside fasting)

This is about permissibility more generally, health harm, addiction, social impact, and broader rulings.

These can produce different answers. For example, many people who say “smoking is haram” still treat it as a separate question from “does smoking break the fast?”, though in practice many sources address both.

What’s relatively unequivocal in the sources: smoking and vaping

A number of mainstream religious guidance outlets treat smoking during fasting as invalidating the fast. For example, Dar al-Ifta (Egypt) states:

“Smoking invalidates fasting as it involves inhaling a substance with a perceptible body that reaches the stomach.” SeekersGuidance

Similarly, IslamQA (in an answer addressing vaping during Ramadan) writes:

“Vaping invalidates the fast because it consists of inhaling a substance that has a perceptible body… that reaches the stomach.”

You’ll notice both statements use the same legal logic: a perceptible substance reaching inward (often described as reaching the stomach).

This matters because many scholars who treat nicotine pouches as invalidating the fast do so by analogy: the pouch produces saliva mixed with nicotine/flavouring, which is then (often inevitably) swallowed.

Are Smoking, Vaping and Nicotine Pouches Haram?

Tobacco use is widely considered harmful to health, so many contemporary scholars classify it as haram, citing Qur’anic principles that prohibit self-harm:

“And make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction.” (Surah al-Baqarah, verse 195)

“And do not kill yourself.” (Surah al-Nisa, verse 29)

Traditional snus contains tobacco, and so falls under the same prohibition but tobacco-free nicotine pouches are more debated. Some scholars argue they should also be considered haram because nicotine is addictive and may cause harm, even without tobacco. Others suggest they may fall into the category of makruh (discouraged) rather than strictly forbidden, particularly if they do not intoxicate and are used as an alternative to smoking.

Nicotine itself can be poisonous in large quantities (as can many foodstuffs like salt) but is not carcinogenic in itself which has also led to disagreements in judgements. As a tool for quitting smoking, nicotine pouches dramatically lower the risk to the user compared to smoking or even vaping, so some consider it permissible as long as it is a step to fully quitting smoking.

Nicotine gum / lozenges: a closer analogue to pouches than patches

Because nicotine pouches sit in the mouth, the closest comparisons in many rulings are gum and lozenges, rather than patches.

A straightforward statement from an IslamOnline Q&A about chewing gum says:

“Chewing gum breaks the fast, because it has substances that dissolve and you swallow them…”

That logic, dissolving substances + swallowing, is frequently used by scholars and teachers when discussing anything held in the mouth that releases flavour/ingredients.

Why this is relevant to nicotine pouches

A nicotine pouch like Velo or ZYN is held under the lip; nicotine and flavourings are released into saliva. Even if a user tries not to swallow “extra” saliva, most people will swallow at least some saliva during normal use. That resemblance to gum/lozenges is why many scholars treat pouches as closer to “oral intake” than to non-oral products.

However: not every scholar frames the issue identically (some discuss absorption without “eating/drinking”; others focus on whether anything reaches the stomach; others treat “intended consumption” as key). That’s why you’ll still see variation, especially across different legal schools and contemporary fatwa bodies.

Nicotine patches: often treated differently (transdermal absorption)

Some scholarly councils treat nicotine patches as not invalidating the fast, because they are not eaten/drunk and are absorbed through the skin.

The Islamic Fiqh Council (an institutional scholarly body; the source here is their “Statement on Smoking and Fasting”) states:

“Nicotine patches do not invalidate the fast.”

That doesn’t automatically answer the pouch question, but it shows a widely used distinction in modern fiqh discussions: skin absorption is often treated differently from mouth/nasal intake.

So… do nicotine pouches invalidate the fast? A careful synthesis

Many scholars who say pouches invalidate fasting lean on logic that looks like this:

During fasting, oral intake of dissolving substances is treated like eating/drinking.
A pouch releases nicotine/flavour into saliva.
Saliva is swallowed, bringing dissolved substances inward.
Therefore, it is closer to chewing gum/lozenges than to patches.

This is the same practical structure as the IslamOnline gum statement:

“Chewing gum breaks the fast… substances… dissolve and you swallow them…”

And it fits with the Dar al-Ifta / SeekersGuidance framing that a perceptible substance reaching inward invalidates the fast.

Why you may still find differing answers in real life

Differences often arise because scholars weigh factors differently, such as:

Is swallowing inevitable or avoidable?
Is “substance reaching the stomach” required, or is any meaningful oral consumption enough?
Does mere absorption in the mouth count, even if nothing is swallowed?
How do you classify something that is “not food” but is consumed for effect?

Because of these moving parts, you’ll find people who are personally strict (avoid pouches entirely while fasting) and people who follow a minority view (e.g., trying to treat it like “not eating/drinking”), though the latter is often contested.

Given how important this decision is for people the key points to know are that:

Many mainstream discussions treat nicotine pouches as invalidating the fast by analogy to gum/lozenges and the principle of oral intake.
Some people will report alternative opinions in their communities, but you should verify with a scholar you trust, because the reasoning hinges on fiqh definitions and practical details (swallowing, substance, absorption).

Practical guidance that respects the disagreement

If you are fasting and trying to navigate nicotine dependence respectfully:

If you want the lowest controversy option during fasting hours
- Consider nicotine patches, as islamguide.info explicitly states:
  
  “Nicotine patches do not invalidate the fast.”
If you’re considering nicotine pouches during fasting hours
- Recognise that pouches are oral and resemble the gum/lozenge category many scholars say breaks the fast (dissolving substances swallowed).
- If you still want an answer for your case, ask your imam/scholar a very concrete question, e.g.:
  - “If a pouch releases flavour/nicotine and I inevitably swallow saliva, does that invalidate the fast in our madhhab?”
  - “Is mouth absorption alone treated like eating/drinking, or is swallowing the key factor?”
For evenings (after ifṭār) and pre-dawn (suḥūr)
- Most of the “breaks the fast” debate is irrelevant outside fasting hours; the remaining question becomes general permissibility/health, where communities vary.

Summary of clearly sourced statements (quick reference)

Definition framing: Islamic fasting includes abstaining from “food, drink… and anything that substitutes food and drink.” Wikipedia
Smoking: “Smoking cigarettes invalidates fasting but do not invalidate ablution” (Dar al-Ifta).
Vaping: “Vaping invalidates the fast…” (SeekersGuidance).
Chewing gum: “It is not allowed to chew gum while fasting…” (Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, current President of the Fiqh Council of North America referenced in IslamOnline).
Nicotine patches: “Nicotine patches do not invalidate the fast.” (DarulFiqh.com referenced in islamqa.org ).