Do I Need to Perform Expiation (Kaffara) for Masturbating Daily during Ramadan?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I committed many evil acts, such as masturbation and watching bad things during Ramadan. Do I have to give an expiation (kaffara)? I am young and didn’t know that these acts broke the fast. I have knowledgeable people around me, but I cannot ask, and I didn’t learn as much growing up.
Also, if I did these acts almost during Ramadan, like as a daily routine, would it need expiation (kaffara) because someone told me this? I am regretful, and I stopped the acts last year and have repented. I am just learning about these things and never knew it broke the fast. I made 32 make up (qada) fast, in case. But I want to know what to do because I am 15, and I masturbated almost every day in Ramadan, and kind of as a routine.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
You will have to keep a fast for each day you masturbate without having to give any expiation. You mentioned that you have kept 32 make-up (qada) fasts; 30 fasts out of the 32 will suffice for each day of Ramadan.
Ejaculation without Masturbation
If a person looks at pornographic material and ejaculates as a result of such looking, his fast will not be broken. However, this relates to ejaculation without the act of masturbation.
Ejaculation with Masturbation
Masturbation that leads to ejaculation nullifies the fast, though it does not require expiation. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; ‘Ala’ al-Din Ibn ‘Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-‘Ala’iyya]
Keep repenting and turning back to Allah Most High with a resolve never to return to the sin, and perform Prayers of Need and Repentance in the future and make a habit of it for the rest of your life.
Related:
- Fasting: A Comprehensive SeekersGuidance Reader
- Does Viewing Pornography Break One’s Fast?
- How Can I Stop Masturbating? It’s Hurting My Marriage
- A Reader on Tawba (Repentance)
- A Reader on Pornography and Masturbation
- Prayer of Repentance: Salat al-Tawba
SeekersGuidance offers an excellent youth curriculum, so why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a Youth Islamic Studies Curriculum courseYouth Islamic Studies Curriculum?
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults extensively onsite and online in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
