and between her and her husband there occurred intercourse during the daytime of Ramadan in the very first year of their marriage, on several occasions, because she was unaware of the ruling. She has now repented to Allah and has become constant in the obligatory and supererogatory prayers, as well as in both obligatory and voluntary fasting. She therefore asks about her earlier neglect of the prayer and about her intercourse with her husband during the day in Ramadan out of ignorance: what is incumbent upon her? Must she offer an expiation for every occurrence, or will a single expiation suffice for all of them since they happened within one month? And is her husband required to make the same expiation or not? Furthermore, if expiation is due from her despite her ignorance of the ruling, what then is the meaning of Allah’s words in Sura al-Anʿām: “When those who believe in Our signs come to you, say, ‘Peace be upon you! Your Lord has prescribed mercy for Himself, so that whoever among you commits an evil deed in ignorance and then repents thereafter and reforms—truly He is Forgiving, Merciful.’ ” (6:54)?

Answer: As for her abandonment of the prayer before marriage, this is a grave and heinous matter, for deliberately leaving the prayer constitutes apostasy from the religion of Islam according to the sounder of the two scholarly opinions, even if she does not deny its obligation. She must therefore repent to Allah with sincere repentance and be diligent in her prayers for the rest of her life; by doing so Allah will expiate what has passed.

With regard to what took place between her and her husband—namely intercourse during the daytime of Ramadan—this is forbidden, because Allah, exalted be He, has prohibited it. The Most High says: “Now go in to them and seek what Allah has decreed for you, and eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread; then complete the fast until nightfall.” (2:187) Thus, fasting bars the husband from having intercourse with his wife. If he nevertheless does so, an expiation is due from both of them, which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ made clear in an authentic ḥadīth: it is the freeing of a slave; if he cannot find one,