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What is the ruling concerning an illegitimate child?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by AskOurImam.com

Salaam I would like to no if you find out u r pregnant an the child isn’t frm the guy u gt married to bt u get married an he knows an accepted the child then a few years later things dnt work an u gt divorced bt the child is on his name an u got married when u were six months pregnant wot does that mean or wot should b done concerning the child,he just throe the child an mother away he throe them out of the house an was left to go an live by her parents

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

We are sad to learn the outcome and grief experienced by the woman in reference. However, this personal experience will make clear to her the rationale behind the prohibition of pre-marital relationships. Sharia wishes to safeguard the dignity and honour of women from being merely used as a physical object for one`s passion and desires. The woman in reference should make tawbah to Allah and seek forgiveness. Allah is Most-Forgiving and Most-Merciful.

Principally, a child born out of wedlock is illegitimate and cannot be attributed to the biological father or the husband of his or her mother[1]. The child will not carry the name of the biological father or the husband of the child`s mother but will adopt the surname of the mother[2]. Similarly, the illegitimate child will not inherit from his/ her biological father or from his/ her mother`s husband and vice versa[3].

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Hanif Yusuf Patel

Student Darul Iftaa
UK

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

www.daruliftaa.net

References
[1] فقال رسول الله – صلى الله عليه وسلم – : لا دعوة في الإسلام ، ذهب أمر الجاهلية ، الولد للفراش ، وللعاهر الحجر

[Mishkat al-Masabih, 2: 287-8, Qadimi Kutub Khana; Sunan Abi Dawud, 1: 317, Maktabah Imdadiyah Multan]

[Sahih al-Bukhari, 2: 1065, Qadimi Kutub Khana]

إذ لو كان زنا لزمه العقر ولم يثبت النسب

[Radd al-Muhtar ala Ad-Durr al-Mukhtar, 3: 180, H.M. Saeed Company]

الواطئ (إن ادعى النسب يثبت في الأولى) شبهة المحل (لا في الثانية) أي شبهة الفعل لتمحضه زنا

[Ad-Durr al-Mukhtar ma`a Radd al-Muhtar, 4: 22-3, H.M. Saeed Company]

[Fatawa Mahmudiyyah, 13: 545-7, Dar al-Iftaa Jamiah Faruqiyyah, Karachi]

[2] (قوله: والولد يتبع الأم في الملك والحرية والرق والتدبير والاستيلاد والكتابة) لإجماع الأمة؛ ولأن ماءه يكون مستهلكا بمائها فيرجح جانبها؛ ولأنه متيقن به من جهتها ولهذا يثبت نسب ولد الزنا وولد الملاعنة منها حتى ترثه ويرثها؛ لأنه قبل الانفصال هو كعضو من أعضائها حسا وحكما حتى يتغذى بغذائها ويدخل في البيع والعتق وغيرهما من التصرفات تبعا لها فكان جانبها أرجح

[Al-Bahr ar-Ra`iq Sharh Kanz ad-Daqa`iq wa Minhat al-Khaliq wa Takmilat at-Turi, 4: 251; Tabyin al-Haqa`iq Sharh Kanz ad-Daqa`iq, 7: 418]

وعصبة ولد الزنا وولد الملاعنة موالي أمهما لأنه لا أب له فترثه قرابة أمه ويرثهم

[Al-Fatawa al-alamgiriyyah, 6: 452, Dar al-Fikr; al-Ikhtiyar li Ta`lil al-Mukhtar]

وإذا تزوج الرجل إمرأة فجاءت بولد لأقل من ستة أشهر منذ يوم تزوجها، لم يثبت نسبه.

[al-Hidāyah, 2: 432, shirkah `Ilmiyyah, Multan; al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah, 1: 536, Maktabah Rashidiyyah; al-Bahr al-Rā`iq, 4: 273, Makatabah Rashidiyyah, Fatāwā Mahmūdiyyah, 13: 528, Dar al-Ifta Jamiah Faruqiyyah Karachi]

[3] قال – رحمه الله – (ويرث ولد الزنا واللعان من جهة الأم فقط) ؛ لأن نسبه من جهة الأب منقطع فلا يرث به ومن جهة الأم ثابت فيرث به أمه وأخته من الأم بالفرض لا غير

[Al-Bahr ar-Ra`iq Sharh Kanz ad-Daqa`iq wa Minhat al-Khaliq wa Takmilat at-Turi, 8: 574; ad-Durr al-Mukhtar ma`a Radd al-Muhtar, 6: 800, H.M. Saeed Company]

This answer was collected from AskOurImam.com, which is operated under the supervision of Mufti Hanif Yusuf Patel. He graduated from Jamiatul Ilm Wal Huda, Blackburn, U.K, with a distinction in Alimiyyah degree. He thereafter travelled to Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah Durban, South Africa, to train as a Mufti under the tutelage of Mufti Ebrahim Desai and Mufti Husain Kadodia.

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