Back to search

What is the ruling of Sharia concerning a man who committed adultery with his deceased brother's wife, and she is now pregnant? What is the ruling of Sharia concerning the woman and the fetus? And what is the ruling of Sharia concerning the proposed options for solving the problem?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Adultery is one of the gravest abominations. Whoever is afflicted by it must sincerely repent and conceal their sin. This ruling applies equally to men and women. Sincere repentance erases the sin, for "the one who repents from sin is like the one who has no sin." Thoughts such as killing the woman, committing suicide, or aborting the fetus are major sins, more heinous than adultery itself. Abortion is forbidden in this case, especially after forty days. As for marrying the adulteress, it is permissible after both of them repent, and the woman delivers her pregnancy, and the child is not attributed to the adulterer. The solution is sincere repentance to Allah.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy