Cupping means letting out bad blood that is beneath the skin as a kind of medical treatment. It was narrated from Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Healing is in three things: in the incision of the cupper, in drinking honey, and in cauterizing with fire, but I forbid my Ummah (nation) to use cauterization.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari)
Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi states the following: “According to Ahmad and Ishaq and some Hadith scholars, hijamah, taking blood from the body, which was a means of treatment practiced by the Arabs, makes the fasting invalid. This is also the opinion of some of the Companions and the Followers (the generation after the Companions). They held the view that the fasting of the cupper and the cupped is rendered invalid. Their argument is based on the hadith of Thawban, which is traced back directly to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that “The cupper and the cupped have broken the fast.” (An-Nawwi said that this tradition was compiled by Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah with sound chains of transmission, and the isnad [chain of transmission] of Abu Dawud is according to the condition of Muslim. See Al-Majmu` vol. 6, pp. 349-350.)
The second evidence is the hadith of Shaddad ibn Aws, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing be upon him) came across a man in Al-Baqi` holding my hand on the 18th day of Ramadan and said: “The cupper and the cupped have broken the fast.” (An-Nawwi said that this tradition was compiled by Abu Dawud, An-Nasai and Ibn Majah with sound chains of transmission, ibid.)
A similar hadith was reported by Rafi` ibn Khudayyij, Abu Hurayrah and Abu Musa (ibid. See also Fath Al-Bari,, vol. 5 p. 79, Al-Halabi edition.)
The majority of jurists held that cupping does not render the fasting invalid, neither of the cupper nor the cupped. Their argument is based on the hadith of Ibn `Abbas that the Messenger of Allah was cupped while he was in the state of ihram and while he was fasting. (Reported by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih, as quoted in Al-Majmu`, vol. 6, p. 35). Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked once, did you dislike cupping for the fasting person, and in another variant, during the time of the Prophet? He (Anas) said: No, (we did not) unless it made the person weak. (Reported by Al-Bukhari, ibid.)
It is reported on the authority of Abu Layla: A man from the Prophet’s Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) told me that the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) forbade cupping and observing fasting continuously and that he forbade his Companions from doing so in order to preserve their lives.
(An-Nawawi said this tradition was reported by Abu Dawud with a chain of transmission according to the condition of Al-Bukhari and Muslim, ibid.)
It is reported on the authority of Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri that the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) allowed kissing and cupping. (Reported by Ad-Daraqutni and he said all the transmitters of this tradition are trustworthy. He also reported it from another chain of transmission and said: They [the transmitters] are trustworthy, ibid, p. 351.)
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) is reported to have said: The first case, in which cupping was rendered disliked for the fasting person, was that Ja`far ibn Abi Talib was cupped while he was fasting, then the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) passed by him and said: “Those two persons (i.e. Ja`far and the one who cupped him) have broken their fast.”
Later the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made it permissible for the fasting person to be cupped, and Anas used to do it while fasting. (Reported by Ad-Daraqutni and he said, all the transmitters of this tradition are trustworthy and I find no defect in it, ibid.)
Al-Bayhaqi said: The permissibility of performing cupping was reported from Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas, Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Ibn `Umar, Al-Husayn ibn `Ali, Zayd ibn Arqam, `A’ishah, and Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with them all). (ibid, p. 351.)
According to these views, the hadith saying “The cupper and the cupped have broken the fast,” if it is to be acted upon on the basis of the words, was abrogated by the hadith of Ibn `Abbas, which confirmed that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was cupped while fasting and it was pronounced later, as it was said concerning the Farewell Pilgrimage, and the hadiths which allow the performance of cupping were said at a later date.
On the other hand, the hadiths that make cupping permissible are more sound and authentic and supported by analogy (qiyas) as maintained by Ash-Shafi`i. Scholars interpreted the hadith of “the cupper and the cupped have broken the fast” to mean that cupping may lead to breaking the fast, (i.e., the cupper cannot make sure that the blood will not reach the stomach and the cupped is not sure that the cupping will not weaken him so that he will have to break the fast). Ash-Shafi`i said: What I know from the Companions and the Followers and the majority of knowledgeable people is that the cupper does not break his fasting by performing cupping. (See Al-Fath, vol. 5, p. 79.)
On the basis of what has been mentioned, it becomes clear that, according to the majority of scholars, taking blood from the body of the fasting person does not render the fasting invalid. (Ibid, p. 80.) However, it is disliked if it weakens the fasting person.”