Is it permissible for an un-married fornicator (non-muhsan) who repented and flogged himself a hundred lashes, to marry a chaste woman who has never committed fornication, knowing that he wants to conceal himself? And is a person flogging himself considered the establishment of the legal punishment (hadd)? What is the ruling on the flogged person marrying a chaste woman, based on the hadith: "Indeed, a flogged fornicator should not marry but one like him," and the narration from Ali ibn Abi Talib?

What the person did by flogging himself is incorrect and unhelpful, because the execution of Hadd punishments is entrusted to the Imam, and not to any individual. It is not a condition for the repentance of the fornicator that Hadd be carried out on him; rather, it suffices for him to repent between himself and Allah, and it is recommended for him to conceal his sin. Sound repentance involves abandoning the sin, regretting it, and resolving not to return to it. The repentant person is not prevented from marrying chaste women, because repentance erases what came before it. The words of Sheikh Ibn 'Uthaymeme do not contradict this; rather, he emphasizes that a fornicator does not marry a chaste woman unless he repents.