Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, A Senior Lecturer and an Islamic Scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states the following: “If you break or fail to observe a single day of Ramadan fasting, you ought to make up for it; there is no difference of opinion among scholars about it, unless you belong to those who are exempt from fasting: terminally ill or in advanced old age. The hadith which states that if a person deliberately breaks a single day of fast, he cannot make up for it by fasting an entire life-time is intended to show the importance of Ramadan fasting; its real meaning is: one cannot hope to gain the same spiritual rewards even while making up for it; it does not take away the obligation to make up for the fasts deliberately broken by any means.
There is a difference of opinion among scholars whether one who has deliberately broken a day of Ramadan through activities other than sexual intercourse should offer kaffarah besides making up for the broken fast. According to Hanafi and Maliki schools, he/she must offer kaffarah besides making up for the missed fast. But according to both Shafi`i and Hanbali schools, kaffarah is only obligatory in case of breaking a fast through sexual intercourse.
In order to expiate for one’s past sins, there are a number of things recommended:
1. Virtuous acts of any kind including charities; charities are especially mentioned in the sources, as well as acts of compassion;
2. Voluntary fasts;
3. Consistency in dhikr (remembrance of Allah) and istighfar (asking Allah for forgiveness).
May Allah cleanse us all of our sins-ameen.