What is the ruling on fondling a non-mahram woman without intercourse, and is it considered zina (fornication/adultery)? And is anal sex considered liwāṭ (sodomy)?

When Allah Almighty forbids something, He also forbids the means leading to it. This is because engaging in these means leads to the heart becoming attached to the forbidden, and makes a person live in a psychological struggle between falling into sin or refraining. Reflecting on the question, one realizes that habit prevents a person from reaching this legally reprehensible act and then being able to curb their desires and refrain from violating this sanctity.

1. Sodomy (Homosexual intercourse): This refers to a man having intercourse with another man. Scholars have reached a consensus on its prohibition, and its condemnation has been mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah. It was the cause of the destruction of the people of Lot. Ibn Hazm said: "The act of the people of Lot is among the major, reprehensible enormities, and whoever permits it is a disbeliever." Ibn Qudamah said: "Scholars have unanimously agreed on the prohibition of sodomy." Ibn al-Qayyim narrated from Ibn Taymiyyah the consensus of the Companions on executing the perpetrator.

2. Anal intercourse with a woman: With one's wife: It is not permissible for a man to have anal intercourse with his wife. This is called "minor sodomy," and it is one of the major sins. It has been reported in a Hadith: "Accursed is he who has intercourse with his wife in her anus," and "Whoever has intercourse with a menstruating woman, or a woman in her anus, or a soothsayer, has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad." Ibn Taymiyyah affirmed that anal intercourse with a woman is forbidden by the Quran and Sunnah, and this is the view of the majority of early and later scholars. With a non-mahram woman: Scholars have differed whether it is considered zina (fornication/adultery) or sodomy. Sheikh Al-Sa'di chose that it is zina.