Is Intimacy Permissible during the Month of Ramadan?


Shafi'i Fiqh

Answered by Ustadh Shuaib Ally

Question

I have been married recently.

Can we have intercourse during Ramadan?

Answer

May Allah have mercy on your father and keep your family together.

I pray that the following is useful in answering your questions and alleviating some of your concerns:

Intercourse is one of the things that one must abstain from while fasting during the daytime hours of Ramadan. Engaging in intercourse while fasting is impermissible and a major sin.

It is permissible and not in any way blameworthy for a person to have sex with one’s spouse during the nights of the month of Ramadan.
The verse establishes permissibility: “You are permitted to lie with your wives during the night of the fast. They are garments to you, as you are to them. God was aware that you were betraying yourselves, so He turned to you in mercy and pardoned you: now you can lie with them and seek what God has ordained for you…” [3:187].

[Ustadh] Shuaib Ally