Vomit

Vomit is, in the jurists' terms, what comes out of food after it has settled in the stomach; it is distinguished from regurgitation (qalas), which does not count as vomit unless it returns. The schools differ on whether vomit is impure, on whether it breaks ablution, and on its effect on prayer and fasting. ¹

The Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold vomit impure; the Hanafis count it a heavy impurity, while a small amount that does not fill the mouth is pure in Abu Yusuf's preferred view. The Shafi'is hold it impure even when unchanged, and pardon what is so common that people are tested by it, while excepting bee honey. The Malikis hold impure only vomit that has changed from the state of food. ^{2 3}

The Malikis and Shafi'is hold that vomit does not break ablution. The Hanafis hold that it breaks it when it fills the mouth, and that phlegm does not. Repeated small vomits join if they fill the mouth together: Abu Yusuf joins them by one sitting, Muhammad by one cause (nausea), which the text prefers; Zufar holds any vomit breaks ablution. The Hanbalis hold that vomit breaks ablution when it is excessive by each person's own standard. ^{3 4}

A breach during prayer invalidates it, so vomit that breaks purity is treated as a breach. The Hanafis have the worshipper leave, renew his ablution and build on his prayer unless he did more than necessary, and detail the case after the tashahhud and the case of a deliberate breach. The Malikis do not invalidate prayer for a small, clean vomit that is not swallowed. The Shafi'is have two views: the new view invalidates, the old view allows leaving and building. The Hanbalis require repetition when vomit is excessive. ^{4 5 6}

All agree that a fasting person overcome by vomit does not break the fast, on the hadith "whoever is overcome by vomit owes nothing"; the text records al-Tirmidhi's grading as hasan gharib. If vomit returns without the fasting person's doing, the Malikis, Shafi'is and Abu Yusuf say the fast breaks; the Hanbalis and Muhammad say it does not. ⁶

The ablution rules are detailed under the entry on ablution, and the fasting rules under the entry on fasting. ^{4 6}