The ruling on one who commits the secret habit during the day of Ramadan

The first message in this episode is one that reached the program from Riyadh, sent by one of the brothers. He says: Your brother in Allah (M. A. H.). Our brother says: I was, until four years ago, one of the good young men, committed to prayer and the Sunnah. But I kept the company of bad companions and began to leave this path until I became negligent in performing the prayer, and I committed one of the sins during the day of Ramadan about three years ago. And starting last year, I began to feel the weight of my sin and returned to what I was before by following the Sunnah and establishing the prayer. But every time I remember what I did during the day of Ramadan, especially when I stand up for the Fajr prayer, I become sad and my eyes begin to shed tears. So I ask Your Eminence, the Shaykh, to clarify what I must do: is it fasting or making up the day? May Allah reward you with the best reward.
And in reality, he mentions in detail the sin he committed during the day of Ramadan, Your Eminence, the Shaykh?
Answer: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance.
As for what follows: Praise be to Allah who guided you, my brother, to return to the right path, to adhere to the path of the Sunnah and the community, and to keep the company of the righteous. And whoever repents, Allah accepts his repentance. And this sadness you feel regarding the relapse that happened to you indicates a great good. So be glad of the good, for repentance erases what came before it. Whoever repents, Allah accepts his repentance. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So repentance demolishes the shortcomings that occurred on your part, and praise be to Allah. And this sadness when you remember your sin, and the weeping, is a great good and a great benefit. And this from you is of the same kind as what some of the Salaf said: A servant may commit a sin and enter Paradise because of it, and do a good deed and enter the Fire because of it. It was said: How is that? He said: He does a good deed and becomes proud of it, arrogant with it, and magnifies it, so he enters the Fire because of it. And he does an evil deed, then regrets it every time he remembers it and becomes sad every time he remembers it, so he enters Paradise because of it.
So with this repentance, and this regret, and this sadness, great good is hoped for you, and the acceptance of your repentance is hoped for. So you are upon a great good.
As for what happened to you in Ramadan, you must pay the expiation for it along with sincere repentance. You must make up the day on which the intercourse occurred, and you must pay the expiation for the intercourse. It is freeing a slave if you are able. If you are unable, you fast two consecutive months. If you are unable, you feed sixty poor people, thirty sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg). And you know your own situation best. If you are able to free a slave, there are slaves in some African regions who are held in slavery by inheritance and are sold. We have bought a number of them and freed them. And if you are unable to do that, then fasting two consecutive months. If you cannot do that, feed sixty poor people. Each poor person is given half a sa' of dates, rice, or other staple food of the country. Half a sa' is approximately one and a half kilograms of wheat or the like.
And this is what is obligatory upon you, along with repentance and seeking forgiveness, and making up the day. The woman is like him. The woman, if she was fasting and of age, the point is that she is like you. She must repent and seek forgiveness, make up the day, and along with that, pay the expiation if she was willing. But if she was coerced, forced, and had no power, then nothing is required of her. Yes.
The presenter: I was compelled to state it explicitly, Your Eminence, the Shaykh. The matter is not a matter of intercourse with another party. It is what is called the secret habit among young people?
Answer: It is not intercourse? The secret habit, no. The secret habit has nothing in it except making up the day. There is no expiation for the secret habit. In the secret habit, there is only making up the day, and repentance and seeking forgiveness, and praise be to Allah.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.