The Expiation for Intercourse During the Daytime of Ramadan

Question:
A young man says: I got married about three months before Ramadan, and I had intercourse with my wife on two consecutive days during the blessed day of Ramadan. I am repentant, and my wife is content with this act. What is required of me and my wife?

Answer:
You must both repent to Allah, because this is a major sin among the major sins. Intercourse during the day in Ramadan is a major sin. So you must both repent, feel remorse, and make up the two days. You are also required to pay the expiation. There are two expiations, one for each day. You are required to free four slaves: two for you and two for her. If you cannot free them, then you must fast for four months for you and four months for her, meaning eight months in total. If you are unable to do that, then you must feed sixty poor people. You must feed sixty poor people twice, meaning sixty sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg), which is thirty sa' for each day. She is like you, so she must provide sixty sa' for the two days, totaling one hundred and twenty sa'. This is to be distributed among sixty poor people, because you committed a crime. This is its severity. It is haram (forbidden). One hundred and twenty sa' distributed among sixty people, each person receiving two sa'. Sixty for you and sixty for her. If you are unable to free slaves or fast, along with repenting to Allah, feeling remorse, and making up the two days by fasting, this is a great calamity and a crime. We ask Allah for safety. Yes.