What is the ruling on shaking women’s hands and speaking with them in Ramadan? I shake hands with women and joke with them. Is this just a disliked behavior, or will it invalidate my fast? As you know, we are just a few days away from Ramadan.

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger.

As a Muslim, you are not allowed to look at, joke, or mingle with women who are legally marriageable to you. This is because such mingling could lead to immorality. Touching women is much worse since there is a strong warning against it. The Prophet said: “It is better for a man to be stabbed in his head with a needle of iron than to touch a woman that is not lawful for him to touch.”

Needless to say, the punishment for a sin is aggravated if such a sin is committed in religious settings or during blessed times of Muslim worship. Therefore, a sin committed in the month Ramadan is more blameworthy than the same sin committed at any other time, given the blessedness of the month.

You ought to hasten to repent, ask Allah to forgive your previous sins, and be determined not to repeat it in the future. You should be determined to keep your fast free from imperfections that may minimize its reward. The Prophet said: “The person who is fasting should avoid verbosity and argumentation; if somebody curses or fights him, he should answer: ‘I am fasting.’” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] The Prophet also said: “If the fasting person does not give up false speech and (bad) actions, then Allah does not need him to give up his food and drink.” [Al-Bukhari: sound]

That being said, you must know that what you have been doing is forbidden. However, your touching women does not invalidate your fast unless you discharge semen or pre-seminal fluid. If you discharge only pre-seminal fluid (mathy) or any other fluids than semen while fasting, then your fasting is invalidated and you are required to make up for that day at a later time. In case you did discharge semen, however, you are required to make up for that day and pay an expiation, as stated by the Maliki scholars.

Allaah Knows best.