ABU DHABI // Appetite-suppressing diet patches are "not a problem" when used during Ramadan, the Islamic Affairs Authority has said. In response to calls to its fatwa telephone line, the authority said Muslims who turn to such patches will not invalidate their fast. "If you use it on the outside around your body to stop the pains of hunger, it is not a problem," assured Abdul Ammoura, a mufti with the fatwa call centre.
"It's like using a cream or a lotion. Anything external is fine, as long as it's not entering via the mouth." Although local religious authorities confirmed the patches were permissible, the scholars did not endorse them. "They should be avoided," advised Mohammed al Kobaisi, a mufti with the Dubai Islamic Affairs Department. He noted that wearing such aids to ease fasting defeated the whole purpose of abstaining from food and drink - self-restraint and an appreciation for worldly comforts.
"It goes against the spirit of fasting itself," Mr Kobaisi said. "This feeling of hunger and thirst is meant to be so Muslims will feel for the poor and the needy, and have compassion to help them." The ruling on the use of diet patches follows Turkey's decision to approve stick-on transdermal appetite suppressants during fasting. Saudi Arabian scholars challenged that ruling the same week, declaring that diet patches are haraam or forbidden if they transfer nutrients through the tissue during the fast.
UAE chemists offer brands such as Slim Patch and Trim 24/7, which claim to burn fat by secreting stimulants into the skin to speed up metabolism and reduce appetite. Pharmacists said they were not aware of any fatwas regarding the product. "We've all been debating it," said Mark Zora, executive manager of the Medicine Shoppe, in Dubai. "As far as whether or not diet patches will break your fast, we have no information but we'd like to know."
Ahmed Jowad, who works at Life Pharmacy, in Dubai, said he believed using aids to ease fasting during Ramadan amounted to foul play. "Some people will say this is cheating," he said. Meanwhile, the Nutrition Centre at Marina Mall was still selling the Trim 24/7 patches. "So many people use them during Ramadan already and there are enough for one month, so they are not a problem," said the pharmacist, Sherif Reda Maradal Sherif.
Sahar Sultan, who works at Al Safa drugstore on Muroor Road, doubted the patches were appropriate during the fast. "There is some medicine inside these patches that is absorbed by the skin to lower fat deposits," she said. "There is no need to diet like that." Nicotine patches are permissible and commonly used during Ramadan. Smokers have been known to use the holy month as an opportunity to quit.
One mufti at the fatwa call centre said there was room for manoeuvre within Ramadan's rules. Muslims suffering from chronic illnesses such as diabetes, for instance, could still take insulin. "Islam is about leniency, not hardship," he said. @Email:mkwong@thenational.ae