Is the marriage of a young Muslim man to a girl who had an illicit relationship before marriage considered void, and what is the status of their children, especially since she became committed and started wearing the niqab after marriage and aborted the fetus?

If the marriage contract is concluded while the woman is pregnant from fornication, the Maliki and Hanbali schools of thought hold that the contract is invalid, whereas the Hanafis and Shafi’is deem it permissible. The more cautious approach is to renew the contract after childbirth. Furthermore, it is not permissible to have intercourse with her until she gives birth, based on the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) saying: “A pregnant woman should not be intercoursed with until she gives birth.”

As for the children, they are attributed to the husband, even if the marriage is disputed in its validity or is void, as long as the husband had intercourse believing in its validity; because “the child is for the bed.”