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He incurs no sin for what he has eaten or drunk, because he had no choice in the matter.
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The phrase “Allah fed him and gave him drink” means that the act occurred without his volition; Allah alone decreed it for him by causing him to forget that he was fasting.
Hadith Seven
Abu Hurayrah reported: While we were sitting with the Prophet ﷺ, a man came and said, “Messenger of Allah, I am ruined!” He asked, “What has ruined you?”—or: “What is the matter with you?” The man replied, “I had intercourse with my wife while I was fasting,” and in another wording, “I approached my wife during Ramadan.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Can you find a slave to set free?” He answered, “No.” He said, “Are you able to fast two consecutive months?” He replied, “No.” He said, “Can you afford to feed sixty needy people?” He replied, “No.”
The Prophet ﷺ then remained silent.
While we were still there, someone brought the Prophet ﷺ a basket (ʿirq) filled with dates—the ʿirq is a woven palm-leaf basket. He said, “Where is the questioner?” The man said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take these dates and give them in charity.” The man said, “Messenger of Allah, is there anyone poorer than I? By Allah, there is no household between the two lava plains”—meaning the black rocky tracts—“that is poorer than mine.” The Prophet ﷺ laughed until his canines showed and then said, “Feed them to your family.”
Glossary
• al-ḥarrah: land covered with black volcanic stones.
• Baynamā: an adverb of time, usually followed by a nominal sentence.
• ʿIrq: a palm-leaf basket; here estimated to hold fifteen ṣāʿs.
• al-lābah: another term for al-ḥarrah; Medina lies between two such lava fields, one to the east and one to the west.
• al-miktal: a basket woven from palm fronds.
Overall meaning
Salamah ibn Ṣakhr al-Bayāḍī came to the Prophet ﷺ in fear and said, “I am ruined.” The Prophet asked, “What has ruined you?” He replied that he had had intercourse with his wife while fasting during the day in Ramadan, whereupon the Prophet did not rebuke him