Does Masturbation Break the Fast? | Islamic Q&A

Deliberate ejaculation through masturbation invalidates the fast. Learn the scholarly consensus, the requirement for Qada (making up the fast), and repentance.

Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. The ruling regarding this matter depends on understanding both the general prohibition of the act and its specific impact on the act of fasting.


The General Ruling on Masturbation


The majority of Islamic scholars (including the Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali schools), as well as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), hold the consensus that masturbation is impermissible (haram). This is derived from the description of the successful believers in the Quran:

And they who guard their private parts, Except from their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they will not be blamed - But whoever seeks beyond that, then those are the transgressors.
quran, Surah Al-Mu'minun, 23:5-7

Committing this act during the daylight hours of Ramadan compounds the severity of the sin, as it involves both the transgression of the act itself and the violation of the sanctity of the blessed month.


Does it Invalidate the Fast?


If masturbation leads to the ejaculation of semen (maniy), the fast is definitively broken. Fasting (Sawm) is not merely abstaining from food and drink; it requires the restraint of carnal desires. In a well-known Hadith Qudsi, the Prophet Muhammd ﷺ reported that Allah the Exalted says concerning the fasting person:

He leaves his food, his drink, and his desire for My sake. Fasting is for Me, and I will reward for it.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1894

Because the individual has fulfilled their desire, the fundamental condition of the fast has been nullified.


Obligations Upon Breaking the Fast If a person breaks their fast in this manner, three immediate obligations fall upon them:

  1. Imsak (Restraint): From the moment ejaculation occurs, the fast is invalidated. However, it is strictly impermissible to continue eating or drinking for the remainder of the day. The individual must behave as a fasting person until sunset out of reverence for the sanctity of Ramadan.

  2. Qada (Making up the Fast): The individual must fast one day after Ramadan to make up for the invalidated day. No severe expiation (Kaffarah of fasting 60 days) is required, as that specifically applies to intercourse, but the day must be replaced.

  3. Tawbah (Sincere Repentance): The individual must repent sincerely for deliberately breaking the fast and engaging in a prohibited act. They must feel remorse, resolve never to return to it, and ask Allah for forgiveness.

Furthermore, a believer should hasten to perform good deeds, increase their supererogatory (Nafl) fasts, and engage in constant remembrance of Allah to purify themselves, as Allah ﷻ promises in the Quran:

Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember.
Quran, Surah Hud, 11:114

And Allah knows best.