Short answer
In the Hanafi school, looking alone does not break the fast, even if it leads to ejaculation without any touching. But watching porn is haram, a serious sin in any month and worse while fasting, and it can wipe out the reward of the fast. If it leads to masturbation and ejaculation, the fast is broken.
Looking or thinking that causes ejaculation without touching does not break the fast in the relied-upon view, so no qada is due, though ghusl is. Watching pornography is haram. If touching or masturbation leads to ejaculation, the fast is broken and one day of qada is due.
Other madhhabs
- Maliki
- Ejaculation from sustained looking breaks the fast, and kaffarah is due if it was deliberate in Ramadan.
- Hanbali
- Ejaculation from repeated looking breaks the fast, and one day is made up.
Explanation
Two questions are mixed together here. The legal one is whether the fast is still valid. The moral one is what the act is. On the first, the Hanafi school says the fast is broken by things entering the body or by sexual release through contact, so ejaculation from looking alone, with no touching, does not break it. On the second, the answer is clear: pornography is haram.
Allah tells believing men and women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts. The Prophet ﷺ said that the zina of the eyes is looking. Looking at nudity on a screen is not lighter because the people are far away, and the fast is meant to guard the eyes too.
What you owe:
- Looking with no ejaculation: the fast is valid, but repent.
- Looking that caused ejaculation with no touching: the fast is valid in the Hanafi school, and ghusl is required before you pray.
- Masturbation or touching that led to ejaculation: the fast is broken; make up one day. See masturbation and fasting.
If you are struggling. Many Muslims, young and old, fight this habit, and Ramadan is a good time to break it. Make sincere tawbah, block the sources, keep your phone out of the bedroom, fill the nights with taraweeh and Quran, and talk to someone you trust if it has become an addiction. Allah forgives the one who keeps coming back to Him. See how to repent.
The evidence
Quran, Surah An-Noor 24:30
قُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا۟ مِنْ أَبْصَٰرِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا۟ فُرُوجَهُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَزْكَىٰ لَهُمْ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ ﴿٣٠﴾
Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do.
Lowering the gaze is a command at all times.
Sahih Muslim 2658
Sahih... فالعينان زناهما النظر والأذنان زناهما الاستماع ...
"The zina of the eyes is looking, and the zina of the ears is listening."
Looking at what is haram is a sin of the eyes, even without touching.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on what requires qada and kaffarah. If he looked at a woman and ejaculated, his fast is not broken.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on what breaks the fast and what does not. Ejaculation from looking or thinking does not break the fast; from touching it does.
- Mukhtasar Khalil with al-Sharh al-Kabir, Bab al-Siyam. The Maliki ruling on ejaculation from sustained looking.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.