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Is it permissible to abort a pregnancy resulting from an illicit relationship, or must it be allowed to live with the stepfather without informing him?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Adultery is a major sin, one of the most heinous, and its ugliness increases when committed by a married woman. A child resulting from adultery is legally attributed to the woman's husband, not to the fornicator, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "The child is for the bed, and for the fornicator is the stone." The child's lineage is not disproven from the husband except through the legal act of li'an (mutual imprecation). The fornicator must repent and sever his relationship with the woman. The woman must repent to Allah for bringing someone into her home who is not her husband, for the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Any woman who brings someone into a people who is not of them, then she is not from Allah in anything, and He will not admit her to Paradise." Abortion is not permissible.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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