A period passed during which he had no children, then his wife became pregnant and gave birth to a child who did not resemble him, and he suspected her, so he had a blood test done and it was determined that the child was not his; what should he do?
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Fatwa number ( 15183 )
Q: I am a citizen who married in 1395 AH, and it so happened, as Allah the Almighty wills, that my ability to have children is very weak, as the doctors told me.
The doctors told me that the chance of conception does not exceed (1%), and the rest is up to Allah. I used the treatments the doctors prescribed for me, but to no avail. In the end, I surrendered my affair to the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, and accepted what He had decreed for me, and I stopped pursuing treatment. Suddenly, in the year 1409 AH, my wife informed me that she was pregnant. You can imagine, O honorable Shaykh, how great my joy and happiness were with this blessing that the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, bestowed upon me. The pregnancy period passed safely, and my wife gave birth to a male child. Here came the great shock: the newborn did not bear any features or resemblance to me at all, not even in color. I am white, my wife is wheat-colored, and the boy is dark brown. From there, all the obsessions and doubts began to assail me. In the end, I could no longer bear it, and I confided in my relatives about these doubts that had taken over all my thoughts. At first, they tried to remove these doubts from my mind, arguing that it is not a condition for a newborn to resemble his father, and that these are the whispers of Satan. But I was not convinced. After a period of suffering and in the face of my insistence on not being convinced by their words, they advised me to have blood and genetic trait tests done for myself, my wife, and the newborn, so that my heart would be at ease and I would be relieved of these suspicions and obsessions. Indeed, I performed these tests after much back and forth between my family and my wife’s family
My wife’s family, and in the end, they agreed reluctantly. It is not hidden from your eminence the extent of scientific advancement in these matters, and that is by the grace of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. About two weeks after taking the samples, they presented me with a report on the test results. The report stated that this child could not be mine in any way, as there were no genetic traits or genes from me at all. Rather, they found other strange genetic traits. As stated in the report, it is impossible for a child to be born who does not bear any genetic trait from the father, regardless of physical resemblance, and that any child Allah creates must bear traits from the father and the mother. After the test results appeared, my wife went to her family in preparation for divorce, and told them that the child would not be attributed to me and would not carry my name. Here, my wife’s family insisted on the legal mutual oath-swearing (li'an). After much back and forth and the intervention of people of good, they suggested that the wife swear on the Book of Allah, in front of her father and in front of me only, that this child is mine. And indeed, she swore on the Book of Allah and returned to the home. But until the date of this letter, my soul has not been at peace, and I am still in confusion about my affair. Does what I did please Allah? Knowing and being convinced, according to the blood test, that this child is not mine. And am I considered in this case a "diyath" (one who has been cuckolded), may Allah protect us from that? Knowing that my life with her is like that of strangers, and the image of her betrayal is always present in my mind. In fact, I do not have any feeling or sense of fatherhood toward the child. My question here is: Is it forbidden for her to remain under my care, given that I know she committed unlawful sexual intercourse based on the blood test, knowing that the child has been attributed to me?
her infidelity is present in my imagination, and I do not feel any sense of fatherhood or affection for the child. My question here is: Is it forbidden for her to remain under my guardianship? I know that she committed zina based on the blood test, knowing that the child has been attributed to me?
A: The child is your child, and you have done wrong in what you did. It is obligatory for you not to believe those who deny it from you, and not to have doubts about it; for what Abu Hurayrah narrated:Sahih al-Bukhari 7314 and he was not permitted to disown him." Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim, and the wording is
he is permitted to abstain from it.” Agreed upon, and the wording is al-Bukhari’s. And from Aisha, (may Allah be pleased with her), she said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Ibn Majah 2006Sahih (Darussalam) Agreed upon. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: I am a citizen who married in 1395 AH, and it so happened, as Allah the Almighty wills, that my ability to have children is very weak, as the doctors told me.
The doctors told me that the chance of conception does not exceed (1%), and the rest is up to Allah. I used the treatments the doctors prescribed for me, but to no avail. In the end, I surrendered my affair to the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, and accepted what He had decreed for me, and I stopped pursuing treatment. Suddenly, in the year 1409 AH, my wife informed me that she was pregnant. You can imagine, O honorable Shaykh, how great my joy and happiness were with this blessing that the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, bestowed upon me. The pregnancy period passed safely, and my wife gave birth to a male child. Here came the great shock: the newborn did not bear any features or resemblance to me at all, not even in color. I am white, my wife is wheat-colored, and the boy is dark brown. From there, all the obsessions and doubts began to assail me. In the end, I could no longer bear it, and I confided in my relatives about these doubts that had taken over all my thoughts. At first, they tried to remove these doubts from my mind, arguing that it is not a condition for a newborn to resemble his father, and that these are the whispers of Satan. But I was not convinced. After a period of suffering and in the face of my insistence on not being convinced by their words, they advised me to have blood and genetic trait tests done for myself, my wife, and the newborn, so that my heart would be at ease and I would be relieved of these suspicions and obsessions. Indeed, I performed these tests after much back and forth between my family and my wife’s family
My wife’s family, and in the end, they agreed reluctantly. It is not hidden from your eminence the extent of scientific advancement in these matters, and that is by the grace of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. About two weeks after taking the samples, they presented me with a report on the test results. The report stated that this child could not be mine in any way, as there were no genetic traits or genes from me at all. Rather, they found other strange genetic traits. As stated in the report, it is impossible for a child to be born who does not bear any genetic trait from the father, regardless of physical resemblance, and that any child Allah creates must bear traits from the father and the mother. After the test results appeared, my wife went to her family in preparation for divorce, and told them that the child would not be attributed to me and would not carry my name. Here, my wife’s family insisted on the legal mutual oath-swearing (li'an). After much back and forth and the intervention of people of good, they suggested that the wife swear on the Book of Allah, in front of her father and in front of me only, that this child is mine. And indeed, she swore on the Book of Allah and returned to the home. But until the date of this letter, my soul has not been at peace, and I am still in confusion about my affair. Does what I did please Allah? Knowing and being convinced, according to the blood test, that this child is not mine. And am I considered in this case a "diyath" (one who has been cuckolded), may Allah protect us from that? Knowing that my life with her is like that of strangers, and the image of her betrayal is always present in my mind. In fact, I do not have any feeling or sense of fatherhood toward the child. My question here is: Is it forbidden for her to remain under my care, given that I know she committed unlawful sexual intercourse based on the blood test, knowing that the child has been attributed to me?
her infidelity is present in my imagination, and I do not feel any sense of fatherhood or affection for the child. My question here is: Is it forbidden for her to remain under my guardianship? I know that she committed zina based on the blood test, knowing that the child has been attributed to me?
A: The child is your child, and you have done wrong in what you did. It is obligatory for you not to believe those who deny it from you, and not to have doubts about it; for what Abu Hurayrah narrated:
A bedouin came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said, "My wife has delivered a black boy, and I suspect that he is not my child." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to him, "Have you got camels?" The bedouin said, "Yes." The Prophet said, "What color are they?" The bedouin said, "They are red." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Are any of them Grey?" He said, "There are Grey ones among them." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whence do you think this color came to them?" The bedouin said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! It resulted from hereditary disposition." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "And this (i.e., your child) has inherited his color from his ancestors.
أن أعرابيا أتى رسول الله -صلى الله عليه وسلم- فقال: إن امرأتي ولدت غلاما أسود، وإني أنكرته، قال: "هل لك من إبل"؟ قال: نعم، قال: "فما ألوانها؟"، قال: حمر، قال: "هل فيها من أورق؟"، قال: إن فيها لورقا، قال: "فأنى ترى ذلك جاءها؟" قال: يا رسول الله عرق نزعها، قال: "ولعل هذا عرق نزعهhe is permitted to abstain from it.” Agreed upon, and the wording is al-Bukhari’s. And from Aisha, (may Allah be pleased with her), she said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The child is for the bed (i.e., belongs to the husband) and the fornicator gets nothing!
الولد للفراش وللعاهر الحجر
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.