What is the ruling on a man who had intercourse with his wife during the day in Ramadan many times, and the reason for that was that he was a dissolute person not committed to the Shari'ah, then he became committed and righteous and wanted to clear his conscience?

The questioner : My Shaykh ... more than this, meaning twenty times, may Allah protect us, thirty, or was it ... a Muslim who was dissolute and not committed, so he became committed and wanted to clear himself, to clear his conscience. Do you see, meaning, does he do what he remembers, or does repentance wipe out what came before it?

The Shaykh : Your friend ... may Allah guide you, there is a question in your ... meaning you started with something and ended with something. Do you mean that our first questioner ... his sinfulness, his licentiousness, and his intercourse with his wife in Ramadan, did he enter the realm 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 my words, twenty times ... twenty ...

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

The questioner : How ... practically, my Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Okay, I

The questioner : ... .

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

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

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

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Meaning, you are now, and this is what I wanted from you, as if you are saying that because of the extent of his 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 and then it becomes clear to him practically that he cannot persevere with this vow that he imposed on himself, in that case he performs the expiation, so the obligation that he imposed on himself is reduced to the obligation that Allah imposed on him, which is to fast three days. Meaning, if we suppose a person vowed to fast every month, every month, this is what can be called impossible, so he fasts what he is able to. So when he becomes exhausted and weary, in that case he returns to the expiation, which is fasting three days. So the answer is the rule: