Fatwa ID: 06754
Answered by: Maulana Mamunur Hussain
Question:
A married woman had relations with another married man and then she got pregnant and had the child. This other man doesn’t know about this child he conceived.
Does the mother give the child her last name? What rights does this child born outside of wedlock have?
Does the mother need to tell the man?
This lady is no longer married but the man she had relations with is still married and has a family
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Adultery is a grave sin, this is more severe and perilous when either one or both parties are married.
Allah says in the Qur’an:
وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلزِّنَىٰٓ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فَـٰحِشَةًۭ وَسَآءَ سَبِيلًۭا
Do not even go close to fornication. It is indeed a shameful act and an evil way to follow. (Surah Al-Isra 17:32 – Mufti Taqi Usmani)
Shaykh Abdur Rahman al-Sa’di, when explaining the verse, mentions that the prohibition of avoiding proximity to adultery is more articulate and meaningful as by extension it includes all the things which lead to the act as well as the act itself.1
The child, even though he/she might be from the adultery, will be attributed to the husband of the woman and not the adulterer.
حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ، عَنْ يَحْيَى، عَنْ شُعْبَةَ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ “ الْوَلَدُ لِصَاحِبِ الْفِرَاشِ ”.
Abu Huraira (ra) narrates that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “The boy is for the owner of the bed.”2
As such the child should be given her name or her husband’s name as this is established through marriage and the child is his legally until the husband denies this through an accusation of adultery upon his wife (li’an)3. The same applies in terms of rights, the child only has rights to the mother and not the fornicating father.
The woman is under no obligation to inform the man, as this will be a form of accusing oneself of adultery, however as the woman is no longer married she could inform him so he is aware.
Only Allah (عز و جل) knows best.
Written by Maulana Mamunur Hussain
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
1 Tafseer al-Sa’di (Risalah, pg 457)
والنهي عن قربانه أبلغ من النهي عن مجرد فعله لأن ذلك يشمل النهي عن جميع مقدماته ودواعيه
2 Sahih al-Bukhari 6750
3 Bada’i al-Sana’i (DKI, vol 2, pg 331/332)
وَمِنْهَا ثُبُوتُ النَّسَبِ، وَإِنْ كَانَ ذَلِكَ حُكْمَ الدُّخُولِ حَقِيقَةً لَكِنَّ سَبَبَهُ الظَّاهِرَ هُوَ النِّكَاحُ لِكَوْنِ
لدُّخُولِ أَمْرًا بَاطِنًا، فَيُقَامُ النِّكَاحُ مَقَامَهُ فِي إثْبَاتِ النَّسَبِ، وَلِهَذَا قَالَ النَّبِيُّ: – صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – «الْوَلَدُ لِلْفِرَاشِ، وَلِلْعَاهِرِ الْحَجَرُ
