Verily, Allah has prescribed fasting for people to gain piety and fear of Allah. He (glory be to Him) forbade eating, drinking lawful beverages and sexual intercourse between the married couple during the daytime only. However, there are still some other things that were not banned including taking shower with water, tasting food and kissing one’s wife while fasting. Yet, it is better to avoid kissing during the daytime of Ramadan, as it may lead to further actions which nullify the fast, such as sexual intercourse or ejaculation.
In his well-known book, Fiqh As-Sunnah, SheikhSayyed Sabiq states:
It is confirmed that `A’ishah said: “The Prophet would kiss and embrace while he was fasting, for he had the most control of all of you over his desires.”
‘Umar said: “I was excited one time and I kissed [my wife] while I was fasting. I went to the Prophet and said: ‘Today I committed a horrendous act—I kissed while I was fasting.’ The Prophet asked: ‘What do you think of rinsing mouth with water while fasting?’ I said: ‘There is nothing wrong with that.’ The Prophet said: ‘Then what is the question about?’
Elaborating on the issue, Sheikh AhmadKutty states:
In optional fasts, kissing, light touching, etc. are permitted so long as one does not engage in sexual intercourse. In obligatory fasts, one is allowed to do these only if one can control himself or herself. Breaking an obligatory fast through sexual intercourse is a serious offence, and it entails strict form of kaffarah (expiation), which includes fasting two months consecutively; if one cannot do this, one must feed sixty poor persons for a single day of fast thus invalidated.
Therefore, no one who is fasting should do such things if there is a genuine risk of overstepping the boundaries. If there is no such fear then light touching, or kissing, etc, when not accompanied by sexual desire, is permissible. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked by a young man whether he can kiss his wife while fasting, he replied no, but when an elderly person came and asked him the same question, he replied yes.
Reasons for this are clear: While it may be easier for an elderly person to control himself, that may not be the case with regard to a young person.