Does a person break his fast by ejaculation without intercourse? And does masturbation break the fast?

The questioner : Ejaculation without intercourse through direct contact?

The Shaykh : It does not break the fast.

The questioner : Is there a question about masturbation?

The Shaykh : Yes, here is a question that is half-secret, and we will make it public because there is no secrecy in the call to Islam! We said earlier that a person, whether he is a young man, a middle-aged man, or an old man, engaged in direct contact with his wife, which is permissible according to the previous details, and he ejaculated. Does this ejaculation break his fast? There is no disagreement among all scholars that direct contact, if it is not accompanied by ejaculation, does not break the fast. However, there is much disagreement regarding whether it breaks the fast if he ejaculates without having intercourse. In this issue, there are two opinions: some say he has broken his fast, and some say that the fast is not broken except by intercourse, and here, whether he ejaculates or not. This is the opinion of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), the mother of the believers, whose hadith you heard regarding the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) direct contact with his wife. This is the answer to the question, which had two parts or sides. Regarding this direct contact, if he ejaculates, there are two opinions, and the stronger opinion is that it does not break the fast. First, there is no evidence for breaking the fast from the Book or the Sunnah. Second, some of the great righteous predecessors, led by Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), and with her, as far as I recall now, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, one of the ten promised Paradise, explicitly stated that caressing, mixing, and direct contact do not break the fast, even if accompanied by ejaculation. The only thing that breaks the fast is intercourse. The second part of the question was about what many single young men are afflicted with, which is known as the secret habit. We say: The secret habit is forbidden in Islamic law, whether in Ramadan or outside of it, whether one is fasting or not. This habit is forbidden because it contradicts the clear text of the Noble Qur'an. In the beginning of Surat al-Mu'minun, the believers are described with certain attributes, including the saying of Allah the Exalted: This verse clearly indicates that the Muslim has a path from two prescribed ways to relieve his need. The first way is marriage to a free woman. The other and final way is to marry a slave woman, a female slave. This was when Islam was striving in the path of Allah. And unfortunately, you know the conditions of the Muslim world today; Muslim women are now taken as captives in Bosnia and similar places. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned these two means here: marriage and taking a slave, and then He said: a means to discharge and release his desire namely, the transgressors, the wrongdoers. With this text, Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said that the secret habit is not permissible. Added to this is what has now become known: the harm of the secret habit on young men is exactly like the harm of smoking, on them and on middle-aged and old men alike. So the secret habit has become medically forbidden like smoking, after the All-Knowing Lawgiver preceded them by forbidding this, namely the secret habit, and forbidding that, which is smoking tobacco. Therefore, the secret habit is forbidden. But what is the relationship between this prohibition and breaking the fast in Ramadan? Does it break the fast or not? We said in the first session that the things that break the fast are of two types: material breakers and spiritual breakers. Whoever is raised and studies jurisprudence based on these two types of breakers, and that Allah the Exalted, when He said: in the verse regarding the obligation of fasting in Ramadan, whoever is well-versed in this verse does not distinguish between a material breaker, which he pays attention to, and a spiritual breaker, which he does not pay attention to. Based on this correct jurisprudence, one must stop all breakers, meaning he must stop the material breakers and the spiritual breakers. So we are now saying: the secret habit, like a man’s direct contact with his wife without the private parts, without intercourse, neither of them breaks the fast. But the original ruling for direct contact is permissibility, according to the previous details. As for the secret habit, the original ruling is prohibition. Therefore, young men should stop this habit, whether they are fasting or not. But if one of them gets involved and disobeys Allah the Exalted, his case is like the case of one who adorns himself with gold or wears forbidden silk in Ramadan, or looks with a forbidden gaze, or a woman displays her adornment and appears in the street while she claims to be fasting, but she is displaying her adornment. Do we say that her fast is invalidated because of this sin or because of those sins? We say: The material breaking of the fast is not