What is the legitimate Islamic method for determining a child's lineage, and is it permissible in Islamic law to attribute the child's lineage to the husband despite doubt, and is it better to divorce or to abandon the wife while continuing to provide for her?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
The child carried by the wife is legally attributed to her husband, even if she commits adultery, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "The child belongs to the bed, and for the adulterer is the stone." If the husband becomes certain that the child is not his, he must disown it through li'an. The wife must offer sincere repentance from adultery by abandoning it, regretting it, and resolving not to return to it. If the wife repents, he may keep her and conceal her sin.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/66396
Where this answer came from
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- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 66396
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy