Why did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not punish the man who kissed a foreign woman?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah reward you. When the man who kissed the foreign woman came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he did not punish him, even though the Shaykh mentioned that this is a matter in which one is punished. What is the reason for this?
The Shaykh : The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) asked, "Did you pray with us?" He said, "Yes." So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) considered this good deed to expiate for him. Then this man came repenting and openly declaring his repentance.
The questioner : That is to say, if he had not prayed and the good deed had not expiated for him, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have punished him.
The Shaykh : This is the default ruling.
The Shaykh : The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) asked, "Did you pray with us?" He said, "Yes." So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) considered this good deed to expiate for him. Then this man came repenting and openly declaring his repentance.
The questioner : That is to say, if he had not prayed and the good deed had not expiated for him, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have punished him.
The Shaykh : This is the default ruling.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 449- «لماذا لم يُعزِّر النبيُّ ﷺ الرجل الذي قبَّل امرأةً أجنبية؟ - ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.