al-Bukhari and Muslim (49). It is narrated with both a fatha and a sukun on the 'ra' [in the word 'irb']. al-Khattabi said: Their meanings are one and the same, which is the desire and need of the soul. It is also said that with the sukun, it refers to the limb, and with the fatha, it refers to the need. It is narrated from Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: 'I felt aroused and kissed while I was fasting. I then said: O Messenger of Allah, I did something grave today; I kissed while I was fasting.' He said: 'What do you think if you were to rinse your mouth from a vessel while you are fasting?' I said: 'There is no harm in that.' He said: 'Then what?' It was narrated by Abu Dawud (50). He likened the kiss to rinsing the mouth in terms of it being one of the preliminaries of desire, and because rinsing the mouth, if not accompanied by the swallowing of water, does not break the fast, whereas if it is accompanied by swallowing it, it does break the fast. However, Ahmad weakened this hadith and said: 'This is a mere breeze; there is nothing to it.'

The second state is that he ejaculates (amna), which breaks the fast without any disagreement that we know of, because of what we mentioned regarding the indication of the two reports, and because it is an ejaculation resulting from physical contact, thus it resembles ejaculation through sexual intercourse without vaginal penetration. The third state is that he secretes pre-seminal fluid (amdha), which breaks the fast according to our Imam and Malik. Abu Hanifa and al-Shafi'i said: It does not break the fast. This has also been narrated from al-Hasan, al-Sha'bi, and al-Awza'i, because it is an emission that does not require ritual bathing (ghusl), so it resembles urine. Our position is that it is an emission accompanied by desire, brought about by physical contact, and thus it invalidates the fast, like semen; it is distinguished from urine in this regard. Touching with desire is like kissing in this respect. Once this is established, if the one kissing has an overwhelming desire such that he strongly suspects that if he kisses, he will ejaculate, then kissing is not permissible for him because it is an invalidator of his fast, so it is prohibited, just like eating. But if he has desire,