Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is the ruling of sexual intercourse during the day in Ramadan? ما حكم الجماع في نهار رمضان؟

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.   Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.   As to what follows:   In response to your question, we say:           What is the ruling of having sexual intercourse during the day in Ramadan?   It has been narrated in the Sahihayn from the hadith of Humayd ibn ‘Abdur Rahman on the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said, “ A man came and said: "O Messenger of Allah; I am ruined!" He said: "What has ruined you?" He said: "I had sexual relations with my wife during Ramadan." He said: "Are you able to free a slave?" [A slave is an owned servant who is bought and sold] He said, "No." He said: "Then are you able to fast for two consecutive months?" He said, "No." He said: "Then are you able to feed sixty needy people?" He said, "No." [al-Bukhari (2600) Muslim (1111) Thus this shows that expiation has stages and the Prophet (peace be upon him) explained what is required from the person who has sexual intercourse with his wife during the day in Ramadan. We can make the meaning of this simpler and say, “The first thing that is compulsory on you is that you should repent to Allah from this sin because it is ruination, and the Prophet (peace be upon him)  affirmed the person’s description of this action when he said, “I am ruined.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “What has ruined you?” The he explained what was required of the man.   Firstly, you should repent from this great sin which is the cause of ruination, then you should complete the day without engaging in any other nullifier of fasting. If a person engages in this action he should complete this day without  doing other things which nullify the fast. It does not mean that if a person breaks his fast through sexual intercourse with his wife then he can do what he wants as is done by many people. Rather, it is compulsory for him to refrain from nullifiers of fasting because every moment of that day should be respected by refraining and abstaining from nullifiers of fasting.   The third thing that is compulsory is expiation.  The expiation is what was explained by the Prophet peace be upon him in the hadith of  Abu Hurairah: freeing a slave, and if  you cannot find a slave , that is, you do not have the financial capability of doing so, or slaves cannot be found in your country like is the case for most people nowadays, then you should move to the second stage of expiation which is fasting two consecutive months. Can you do that? The capability to fast two consecutive months has no defined criterion.  Capability is personal estimation, and that is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Are you able to fast?,” and he did not discuss the man’s capability with him. Capability is a personal estimation between you and  Allah the Exalted.  Some scholars have put a criterion for capability and said, “Whoever can fast the month of Ramadan can fast for two consecutive months”. However, this criterion is not sound, because the person came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) while he had the capability to fast the month of Ramadan but the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not suffice with his ability to fast Ramadan to be an indicator that he can fast for two consecutive months. Rather, he asked him, “Are you able to fast for two consecutive months”, and he said, “No”. That is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) moved to the third stage which is feeding poor people, if you have the capability of feeding sixty poor people.   What is the extent of feeding the poor people? There was no specific limit for feeding which was transmitted. However, the least amount of food that the scholars have stated is half a sa’ of food. Other scholars say, “What covers feeding the poor is half a sa’ of a country’s staple food like dates or wheat and this is approximately equivalent one and a half kilograms, and this frees the person from obligation in the issue of feeding the poor.”   If a person cannot do any of these three stages then he should engage in two issues: repentance to Allah and completing the spoilt day of fasting without engaging in any other nullifier of fasting, and expiation is not incumbent upon him.   Is it compulsory for him to make up for this day? It has been stated in the narration of ibn Majah that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “You should fast another day in lieu of this day” [ibn Majah (1671) ], but this narration is weak and anomalous, thus it cannot be relied upon.   Is it compulsory for a person who has intercourse with his wife during the day in Ramadan to make up for that day?  The majority of the scholars are of the opinion that he should make up for this day. A group of scholars are of the opinion that whoever breaks his fast intentionally will not benefit by making up for it. They based their opinion on what has been transmitted in Sahih al-Bukhari from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah which has been transmitted through a chain which does not reach the Prophet (peace be upon him) and states, “Whoever broke his fast in Ramadan without an excuse will not make up for that day even if he fasts for a lifetime.” This means that making up for that day is not beneficial, that is the virtue for the spoilt day will not be attained , and even if a person fasts perpetually he will not make up for this day, that is, this fasting will not be equivalent or suffice for the fasting of the spoilt day.   In short: My opinion is that making up for this day will not suffice for it but the person should observe a lot of optional fasts so that Allah may forgive him.