Touching a woman with or without desire: Does it invalidate the ablution?

Q: Touching a woman with or without desire, whether she is one's wife or someone else, does it invalidate the ablution?

A: There is scholarly disagreement on this issue.
The correct view is that it does not invalidate the ablution, whether with desire or without, and whether the touch is of one's wife or someone else, provided that no pre-seminal fluid or anything else is emitted. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to kiss some of his wives and then pray without performing ablution. Furthermore, the original state is the validity and integrity of the ritual purity, so it is not permissible to invalidate it except with a nullifier established in the Shari'ah. There is nothing in the Shari'ah indicating that mere touch invalidates the ablution.
As for the saying of the Exalted: [Al-Ma'idah: 6], the intended meaning is intercourse, according to the most correct of the scholars' opinions, as stated by Ibn Abbas and a group of scholars. The intended meaning is not mere touch. If the intended meaning had been mere touch, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have clarified it for the Ummah, for Allah the Exalted sent him as a conveyor and a teacher. It is established that he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to kiss some of his wives and then pray without performing ablution, and this clarifies the meaning of the noble verse.
And Allah knows best.