A man had intercourse with his wife while in the state of ihram for Hajj, out of ignorance. What is the ruling of the Shari'ah in your view, O honorable Shaykh?

The questioner : A man had intercourse with his wife while in the state of ihram for Hajj, out of ignorance. What is the ruling of the Shari'ah in your view, O Shaykh Muhammad?

The Shaykh : Is he in the state of ihram for Hajj or for 'Umrah?

The questioner : He is in the state of ihram for Hajj.

The Shaykh : It is well known that intercourse is among the prohibitions of ihram; indeed, it is the greatest of the prohibitions of ihram. Allah the Exalted said: So rafath is intercourse and its preliminaries, and intercourse is the greatest of the prohibitions of ihram. If a man has intercourse while in the state of ihram for Hajj, it is either before the first release (tahallul) or after the first release. If it is before the first release, several matters follow from his intercourse:
First: the invalidity of the ritual, such that it does not suffice for him, whether it was a voluntary act or an obligatory one.
Second: the obligation to continue with it; that is, despite its invalidity, he must persist and complete it, and this invalid ritual remains like a valid ritual in all its rulings.
Third: making up the missed act from the following year. It is obligatory for him to make up the Hajj from the following year, whether that Hajj was an obligatory duty or a voluntary act. If it was an obligatory duty, the obligation to make it up is clear, because the Hajj in which he had intercourse did not clear his liability. If it was a voluntary act, it is because one must persist in a voluntary Hajj, as Allah the Exalted said: And Allah the Exalted called Hajj a vow, saying: Indeed, Allah the Exalted said: So Allah the Exalted called engaging in Hajj an obligation. For this reason, we said that it is obligatory for him to make up this invalid Hajj, whether it was an obligatory duty or a voluntary act.
The fourth matter that follows is that he must slaughter a camel as expiation for his act and distribute it among the poor. If he slaughters seven camels in its place, there is no harm in that. This is the ruling on intercourse before the first release.
As for if it was after the first release, the only consequence is the invalidity of the ihram. He must slaughter a sheep and distribute it among the poor, or feed six poor people, giving each poor person half a sa' of wheat or other food, or fast for three days. He has the choice among these three: either a sheep, or feeding six poor people with half a sa' each, or fasting for three days. He must renew his ihram by going to the nearest point outside the sacred precinct and entering the state of ihram from there, so that he may perform the Tawaf of Farewell while in the state of ihram.
If you ask when the first release occurs, the first release is by stoning the Jamarat al-Aqabah on the Day of Sacrifice and shaving the head or cutting the hair short. If a man stones the Jamarat al-Aqabah on the Day of Sacrifice and shaves or cuts his hair short, he has achieved the first release and is permitted all the prohibitions except regarding women. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: This hadith is evidence that the release is followed by the Tawaf of the House, which implies that shaving precedes the release, as we established earlier that the first release is by stoning the Jamarat al-Aqabah on the Day of Sacrifice along with shaving or cutting the hair short.
So the intercourse that occurs before that entails the four matters we mentioned just now, and the intercourse that occurs after that entails what we mentioned regarding the invalidity of the ihram, not the ritual, and the obligation of a fidyah, or feeding, or fasting.
But if this man was ignorant, meaning he did not know that this act is forbidden, then he owes nothing, whether it was before the first release or after it. Because Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: Allah the Mighty and Majestic has done it, and He says: But if someone were to say: If this man knew that intercourse is forbidden during the state of ihram, but he did not think that all these consequences would follow, and if he had thought that all these consequences would follow, he would not have done it. Is this an excuse?
The answer is: No, this is not an excuse. The excuse is for a person to be ignorant of the ruling, not knowing that this act is forbidden. As for ignorance of what follows from the act, that is not an excuse. Therefore, if a married man who knows that zina is forbidden, and who is an adult of sound mind in whom the conditions of being married are fulfilled, he is obligated to be stoned. But if he were to say to us: I did not know that the hadd punishment was stoning, and if I had known that the hadd punishment was stoning, I would not have done it. We would say to him: This is not an excuse, so you must be stoned, even if you did not know the punishment for zina. For this reason, when the man who had intercourse during the day of Ramadan came to seek a ruling from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about what was obligatory upon him, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) imposed the kaffarah upon him, even though he was ignorant at the time of intercourse of what was obligatory upon him. This indicates that if a person transgresses against a sin and violates the prohibitions of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, the consequences of that sin follow him, even if he did not know the consequences at the time he committed it.

The questioner : May Allah reward you. The fasting, O Shaykh Muhammad, is it in Makkah or when he returns?

The Shaykh : The fasting is in any place, whether in Makkah or in his country, and whether it is consecutive or separated.