The Possibility of Attributing a Child Born of Zina to the Mother in Islamic Fiqh

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Fiqh and Law, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran.

Abstract

According to some Islamic narrations, the effects of legitimate lineage arise through a valid marriage, and lineage is recognized as the first right of the child after birth. The attribution of a child born of zina to the mother is disputed: the majority of Sunni and some Imami jurists, relying on certain narrations and rational proofs, affirm attachment, thereby acknowledging the child’s inheritance from the mother and her relatives while negating any connection with the adulterer and analogizing them to children of liʿān. In contrast, the majority of Imami jurists and some Sunnis deny attachment, invoking the hadith of firāsh, authentic narrations, rational arguments, and the principle of caution, holding that although combining lineage with sin is not impossible, cases of zina are excluded from the subject of lineage for the above reasons. The main objective of this article is to examine jurists’ views on attaching the lineage of a child of zina to the mother. The core disagreement is whether birth and the applicability of the term “walad” establish attachment, or whether the lack of a religiously valid marriage negates it. The research question is: What is the stance of jurists of both schools on this matter? Using a library method and a descriptive-analytical, comparative approach, the study concludes that “walad” linguistically applies to a child of zina, there is no specific proof negating filiation between mother and child, and the effects of lineage consequently apply due to this attachment.

Keywords

References

 

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Studies of Islamic Jurisprudence and Basis of Law
Volume 19, Issue 52 - Serial Number 52
January 2025
Pages 339-363

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