What is the ruling on a man who has intercourse with his wife during the day in Ramadan many times?

The questioner : Shaykh, if it was more than this; meaning twenty times—seeking refuge in Allah!—thirty, or if he was a heedless Muslim not committed, then he became committed and wanted to clear himself, to clear his conscience; do you see that he should do what he remembers, or does repentance wipe out what came before it?

The Shaykh : ... May Allah guide you. There is a contradiction in your question; meaning you started with one thing and ended with another. Do you mean that our first questioner, because of the severity of his open sinfulness, his lewdness, and his intercourse with his wife in Ramadan, entered the state of impossibility? Do you mean this?

The questioner: No, no.

The Shaykh : So what do you mean?

The questioner : I am asking about... many times, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : I am asking about, meaning now you might say that I repeated the words.

Another questioner : Twenty times is impossible, twenty times in two [years].

The Shaykh : Twenty times, twenty in Ramadan, meaning what? If there are thirty days in every Ramadan, and several days, and how many Ramadans have passed? The point is, what do we need this detail for? We need to understand the question.

Another questioner : There is impossibility.

The questioner : Practically, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : All right, that is it.

The questioner : Yes, yes.

The Shaykh : So then? What exactly is the question?

The questioner : That repentance wipes out what came before it here?

The Shaykh : It wipes out what came before it, along with the commitment to expiation.

Another questioner : He expiates as much as he can?

The questioner : He expiates as much as he can.

The Shaykh : Meaning you are now—and this is what I wanted from you—saying that because of the extent of his open sinfulness, it is impossible for him to be able to perform the expiation, as if you have returned to this?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : In that case, the general rule applies, as I said: , but he does not leave it entirely; he must continue with the expiation; meaning like any person, for example, who makes a vow, then it becomes clear to him practically that he cannot persevere with this vow that he imposed on himself; in that case, he expiates, so the obligation that he imposed on himself is reduced to the obligation that Allah imposed on him, which is fasting three days; meaning if we suppose a person vowed to fast every month, every month, which is what can be said to be impossible, then he fasts what he can; so when he becomes tired and weary, in that case he returns to the expiation; which is fasting three days. So the answer is the rule: .