A man married a woman but did not consummate the marriage; he only contracted the marriage, then divorced her and committed fornication with another.

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. And may prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions...
We begin with the first question: Praise be to Allah alone, and may prayers and peace be upon the one after whom there is no Prophet. And to proceed:
Our noble Shaykh, we love you for the sake of Allah. My question is: A man married a woman but did not consummate the marriage; he only contracted the marriage, then divorced her and committed fornication with another; so is he considered...?

The Shaykh : Committed fornication with another?

The questioner : Yes, before he consummated the marriage.

The Shaykh : Yes, so is he considered... meaning a muhsan (one who has consummated a valid marriage)?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Is that so? Yes.
Without a doubt, the state of being a muhsan (one who has consummated a valid marriage) is achieved through a lawful marriage. As for the forbidden act of fornication, that does not make one a muhsan. It is necessary that he has established a lawful foundation, consummated the marriage with his wife, and had intercourse with her. By doing so, he becomes a muhsan, and the rulings of a muhsan apply to him: if he commits fornication once in his life, he is killed by stoning with stones. However, if he did not marry but committed the sin, then he is not considered a muhsan.
Yes.