Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu waRahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
If a man kisses, touches or embraces his wife and he does not ejaculate or release any fluid, then his ablution is not ruined nor is hers.
The late prominent Saudi Muslim scholar, Sheikh Ibn `Uthaymeen, stated:
`A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) kissed one of his wives and then went to pray without making ablution. (Ahmad, At-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, An-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah)
This hadith clarifies the question of touching or kissing a woman: does that nullify ablution or not? The scholars have different opinions on this point.
Some scholars say that it nullifies ablution in all cases- if one touches a woman, it nullifies his ablution in all cases.
Some say that if he touches a woman in a lustful way, it nullifies ablution; otherwise, it does not.
Some others say that it does not invalidate ablution in any case.
This last opinion is the strongest opinion. That is, if a man kisses, touches or embraces his wife and he does not ejaculate or release any fluid, then his ablution is not ruined nor is hers.
This is because the principle is that his ablution continues to be valid until there is some evidence that it has been nullified. There is no evidence, either in the Qur’an or the Sunnah, to show that touching a woman invalidates ablution. Based on that, if a person touches a woman even without anything between their skins and even if in a lustful manner or a kiss or hug, all of that does not nullify the ablution.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Source: Islamic Fatawa Regarding Women, Compiled by Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Aziz Al-Musnad and translated by Jamal Al-Din Zarabozo, Darussalam, 1996.