Praise be to Allah.

If a man touches a beardless youth with desire, there are two opinions within the school of Ahmad and elsewhere:

The first is that, like touching women with desire, it invalidates ablution. This is the well-known position in Mālik’s school, and al-Qādī Abū Ya‘lā mentioned it in Sharh al-Madhhab. It is also one of two positions within al-Shāfi‘ī’s school.

The second is that it does not invalidate ablution. This is the well-known position in al-Shāfi‘ī’s school.

The first opinion is more convincing. Anal intercourse invalidates the acts of worship that vaginal intercourse invalidates, such as fasting, ihrām and devotional retreat, and it requires a ritual bath just as vaginal intercourse does. Thus, in matters of worship, the acts preliminary to either form of intercourse have the same rulings. If a man touches a beardless youth with desire while in ihrām, he must offer a sacrifice, just as he must if he touches a non-mahram woman with desire. Likewise, touching a beardless youth with desire must have the same ruling as touching a woman with desire regarding the invalidation of ablution.

Those who hold that touching him does not invalidate ablution argue: “He was not created as a partner for that.”

The response is: There is no doubt that he was not created for that, and that the abomination of sodomy is among the gravest forbidden acts. Yet this consideration does not determine the rulings governing certain forms of intercourse. If a man engages in anal intercourse, the aforementioned rulings apply, even though the anus was not created as a site