The ruling on masturbation حكم الاستمناء

All praise is due to Allah alone, and may the Salah and Salam of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad; his family and his companions. To answer your question, we say while seeking all the success from Allah: The hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), which you have quoted, is the main evidence of the scholars who state that ejaculation through masturbation nullifies fasting, which is the view adopted by the majority of scholars from jurists and scholars of hadith. In response to the argument that the concept of desire is a broad one, and so it is necessary to define it and the textual evidence, states that it refers to intercourse. Therefore, to include anything beyond that requires evidence, we say: the meaning of desire is the desire of intercourse and all anything associated  to it because that is the desire that is a desire that a fasting person is not allowed to have, unlike the desire to smell basils and similar desires. As for how masturbation is included in a forbidden desire while fasting, we have just clarified that the intended meaning of desire, in this context, refers to the desire for intercourse, and we know that if a fasting person penetrates, their fast will be nullified, even if there is no ejaculation. Based on that, it is correct to say that the fast of a person, who ejaculated without penetration, whether it was done with the help of someone else or through masturbation, is nullified. As for understanding the statement of the Prophet (may the Salah and Salam of Allah be upon him) when he answered the question of Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding the ruling on kissing his wife while fasting, saying: 'Do not you gargle water in your mouth while fasting?'" So Umar said: "It is not a problem.' Then, the Prophet (may the Salah and Salam of Allah be upon him) said: ‘Yes, the same applies.’ It is an invalid analogy between kissing and ejaculation through masturbation, and so one cannot argue that both, kissing and ejaculation through masturbation take the same ruling, in that they do not affect the fasting of a person! How could that be when the person who ejaculates through masturbation receives more pleasure than the one who penetrates without ejaculation! In fact, this invalid analogy that limits intercourse as the only thing that nullifies fasting necessitates that sodomy does not nullify fasting too! Indeed, this argument, with this understanding and analogy is farfetched and is far from sound understanding of Allah’s book and the statements of His Prophet (may the Salah and Salam of Allah be upon him). Some Hanafi, Shafi’e and Hanbali scholars stated that masturbation is forbidden, while the majority of scholars stated it is disliked, but most of them do allow it in cases hardship. It was reported that some companions and successors allowed it in cases of necessity, such as fearing committing adultery if one does not masturbate, or fearing sickness if one did not ejaculate, or when one’s lust so strong and one cannot find a way to calm down, except through masturbating. In the Tafsir of the ayah (interpretation of the meaning): {But whoever seeks beyond that, then those are the transgressors} [Quran 23:7], the author of ‘Adwaa al-Bayan’ discussed this issue and responded to the arguments of those who excluded ejaculation through masturbation from the meaning of that ayah. He said: “the generality of the ayah is, with no doubt, based on Quran and Sunnah.” To conclude, it appears to me that the argument you have presented in your question regarding the ruling of masturbation is a strong argument, which could be the reason that made some of the righteous predecessors not to use the ayah as evidence to forbid it.   And Allah knows best.