Breathing into a Drink

On the authority of Ibn Qatadah – may Allah be pleased with him:

The Prophet - ﷺ - prohibited breathing into a [drinking or eating] vessel.

On the authority of Ibn 'Abbaas - may Allah be pleased with them:

The Messenger of Allah - ﷺ - prohibited breathing into an [eating or drinking] vessel, or blowing into it.

The scholars explained that the prohibition^[1] for breathing into a vessel is because of etiquette, for fear that something disliked from the mouth or nose may fall into it, and Allah knows best.

The prohibition here is for etiquette, to stress importance of cleanliness, because some saliva, mucus or bad breath may emerge and cause a bad smell that may disgust the drinker himself or others.

…and there are a number of Ahadeeth that prohibit blowing into a vessel, as well as breathing into it, because maybe the drinkers breath changed due having eaten something for example, or not having brushed his/her teeth with Miswak, or not having washed his/her mouth for a long period of time, or because breathing into the vessel could cause some saliva to emerge. And blowing into a vessel in all these circumstances is worse than breathing into it.

Breathing into a vessel is by breathing while drinking, so the person’s breath will be exiting while he/she is drinking, so it would come out into the drink. This was prohibited because breath may have saliva in it which would go into the drink, likewise the air coming out of the nose, something may come out with it and fall into the drink, which would be repulsive to the drinker or others, because this is something that is disliked and prohibited; something coming out of a person’s mouth into a drink and then drinking it – this is not good.

Meaning one shouldn’t blow into the vessel that he/she is drinking from, and this includes a vessel for eating as well as drinking. So one should not blow into the vessel to remove dirt from the drink or the like, for this is usually accompanied by saliva and would be repulsive.

Likewise, one should not blow into a vessel to cool food, rather one should wait until it cools on its own, and not eat it while it is hot, for the blessing is removed from it [when its hot], and this is the nourishment of the people of the Hellfire."

It is not disliked to blow into food if it is hot. I say (al-Mardawi): This is correct, if there is a need to eat at the time.  And it is disliked to eat hot food. I say (al-Mardawi): If there is no need [to eat it while its hot].

Some scholars made exceptions if there is a need [to blow into an eating or drinking vessel], such as if the drink is hot and the person is in a hurry. Some scholars permitted this, but it is better not to blow into the vessel even if the drink is hot. If there is another vessel available, one can pour the drink back and forth between the two until it cools.

And in all this is evidence that the Islamic Legislation is complete from all angles, everything has been taught to us by the Messenger of Allah - ﷺ, as Abu Dhar said:

The Messenger - ﷺ - passed away, and there is not a bird that flaps its wings in the sky, except that he has taught us some knowledge about it.”

Even the birds in the sky! We have knowledge about them through the teachings of Allah and His Messenger!

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1. The prohibition here is a prohibition of Karaha (Makrooh/Disliked) not Tahreem (Haram/Forbiden) as the Jamhoor of the scholars understood.