The Ruling on Marrying a Woman Who Is Pregnant from Zina to the Man Who Committed Zina with Her

The questioner:
One of the brothers sent this request. Indeed, free mixing and imitating the Westerners have become a custom in this time, to the point that zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) has spread, may Allah protect us, in many Islamic countries. When the signs of pregnancy appear on the girl, her family hastens to marry her off to her lover or to someone else out of fear of scandal. The question is: Is it permissible in the Shari'ah for the father or the guardian to marry off his ward while he knows that she is pregnant? If that is permissible, is the girl considered a virgin or a previously married woman when the marriage contract is written? And is it permissible to announce that pregnancy at the time of the contract so that the husband knows? If that is not permissible, how should the guardian act when such a marriage is carried out against his will by the rest of the family and the insistence of the girl, knowing that such problems occur in countries that do not rule by the law of Allah or by its boundaries? Also, regarding the relationship between a father and his daughter, or a guardian and his ward, when she commits such a sin, is it permissible for him to disown her? We ask Your Eminence to publish this issue with some detail in the Saudi magazine al-Da'wah. May Allah benefit you.

The Shaykh:
In any case, this is one of the calamities; we ask Allah for safety. The woman who commits zina does not get married until she repents. If she repents, she gets married. She does not get married while she is pregnant, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade a man who has a date palm to allow another man’s date palm to be planted in his grove, but as for the one who has a date palm at the beginning and the end, he does not allow another man’s date palm to be planted with it. The pregnant woman does not get married until she gives birth. So the woman who is pregnant from zina, may Allah protect us, does not get married, neither to her lover nor to anyone else, neither to the man who committed zina with her nor to anyone else. Once she gives birth, then she may be married. She is ordered to repent, abandon the sin, and feel remorse, and she is married after that to the man she was with or to someone else. As for the child, if they take care of it, honor it, and raise it, it is attributed to its mother, and she must repent to Allah. If they place it in a nursery in the country with the forbidden children out of fear of scandal, and place it with someone who protects it from people, there is no harm. As for killing it, killing it does not necessitate the death penalty. But either she raises it and endures the harm and the blame directed at her, or she gives it to a woman who treats it well and raises it, or to the state’s nursery where they raise it and the state takes responsibility for it. As for the man who committed zina, he does not marry her while she is pregnant. Rather, when she gives birth and repents to Allah, then he may marry her. We ask Allah for safety and well-being.

The questioner:
He knows her, he knows her.

The Shaykh:
The ruling is that they should protect her and discipline her, and not disown her. Rather, it is upon her family to protect her and her guardian to discipline her so that she does not return to such a thing, and to cover her up as much as possible. He covers her up, disciplines her, and marries her off after that. Yes.

The questioner:
He is the one who committed zina with her, meaning he wanted to fix his mistake and start by marrying her, meaning.

The Shaykh:
Once she gives birth, then it is resolved. The child is not attributed to him; the child is attributed to its mother. Yes.

The questioner:
Center, for the sake of.

The Shaykh:
So he does nothing, because she is a virgin. This marriage is not according to the Shari'ah, this country is not according to the Shari'ah,