Rather, its plain wording suggests that the expiation is not waived. When the Prophet ﷺ questioned the man about the lowest level of expiation—feeding the poor—and he replied, “I cannot afford it,” the Prophet fell silent and did not discharge him from liability. The default, therefore, is that the debt remains, and by analogy with all other expiations and financial obligations, poverty does not erase it.

As for the permission he was given to feed his own family, some scholars have said: when someone else provides the expiation on behalf of the liable person, it is permissible for that person to eat from it and to feed his family.

The rulings derived from the hadith are as follows:

1. Intercourse during the daytime in Ramadan is a grave, ruinous sin, for the Prophet ﷺ confirmed the man’s statement, “I am ruined,” and—although he then eased the situation—he did not reject the description.
2. Whoever deliberately has intercourse must offer expiation in the stated order: first, freeing a slave; if that is not possible, then fasting two consecutive months; and if that is not possible, then feeding sixty needy people.
3. The expiation is not annulled by poverty, for the Prophet ﷺ did not excuse the man because of his destitution, and nothing in the hadith indicates that it drops.
4. It is permissible for another person—even a stranger—to discharge the expiation on someone’s behalf.
5. When the expiation is provided by someone else, the beneficiary may eat from it and feed it to his family.
6. The outward sense of the hadith does not distinguish between a believing and a non-believing slave; this is the position of the Ḥanafīs. The sounder view held by the majority is that the slave must be a believer, and the hadith is restricted by the texts concerning the expiation for unintentional killing, in which faith is expressly stipulated.
7. The noble character and generosity of the Prophet ﷺ: the man came to him afraid and anxious, yet departed joyful, carrying food for his family.
8. Whoever commits a sin that carries no fixed corporal punishment and then comes repentant and remorseful is not subject to discretionary punishment.

A summary of benefits from the words of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah have mercy on him:
He said: Breaking the fast—by explicit text and consensus—occurs through eating, drinking, and intercourse. It is likewise established by Sunnah and consensus that menstrual blood invalidates the fast; therefore the menstruating woman does not fast but must make up the missed days. He ﷺ said, “Exaggerate in sniffing water into the nose except when you are fasting,” which shows that water entering by way of the nose breaks the fast. Al-Khaṭṭābī said: I know of no disagreement among the scholars that one who is overtaken by vomiting need not make up the day, whereas one who induces vomiting deliberately must make it up.