Is the marriage valid if a man contracts a marriage with a woman pregnant from him by fornication, and she gives birth five months after consummation, and then she bears him other children?
Scholars differed regarding marriage to a pregnant woman due to fornication. The Maliki and Hanbali schools forbid it before delivery, whether from the fornicator or someone else, based on the hadith: "A pregnant woman should not be approached until she delivers." The Shafi'i and Hanafi schools, however, permitted it, arguing that the semen of fornication holds no sanctity, and they cited the hadith: "The child belongs to the bed, and for the fornicator is the stone." If someone other than the fornicator marries her, he is not permitted to have intercourse with her until she delivers, based on the hadith: "A pregnant woman should not be approached until she delivers," and "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should not water the plant of another." However, if the fornicator himself marries her, he is permitted to have intercourse with her. The child resulting from fornication is not attributed to the fornicator. Marriage to a woman who has committed fornication is permissible if both the fornicator and she repent; otherwise, it is not, based on the verse: (The fornicator does not marry except a [female] fornicator or polytheist, and none marries her except a [male] fornicator or polytheist, and that has been made unlawful for the believers) [An-Nur: 3].
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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