A man committed zina with a woman, and she became pregnant, so he was forced to marry her. Does he have to wait for her 'iddah to end with the birth, or not?

The questioner : A man committed zina with a girl, and their situation was not known until after some time. When it became known, some people suggested to them that they marry. Does he have to wait for the 'iddah, given that she is pregnant with his child without a valid Islamic contract, meaning through zina?

The Shaykh : It is known that the 'iddah is for the purification of the womb. If it is known with certainty that this child is his, then the 'iddah has ended.

The questioner : In the view of some of their speech, this or that child is a child of zina, so it is not permissible for us to mix what Allah has made lawful with what He has forbidden. The first point is that this child is from the forbidden thing, and now his wife has become lawful, so we do not mix them?

The Shaykh : This is correct, but the greatest problem that the second question reminded me of is what they intend to do with the child.

The questioner : They want to raise their son in their household.

The Shaykh : This is more emphatic.

The questioner : Does the child inherit in this case?

The Shaykh : He does not inherit.

The questioner : Well, what is the solution, my teacher, if they do not marry according to the Sharia? The child belongs to his mother, the woman who committed zina?

The Shaykh : Of course, he belongs to his mother.

The questioner : And in this case, is the marriage necessary? Does he live with her, or is there another solution?

The Shaykh : I do not know a solution for this. It is haram with haram, and the child of zina is the child of zina. The solutions they resort to are caused by negligence and neglect of the Islamic rulings. One man preys upon a woman, they marry her to him, and the problem is over.

The questioner : Oh, how wonderful. Even, my teacher, this problem has something that makes a person more affected: the girl is engaged to her cousin, the girl who was wronged, and the young man who committed this act is engaged to his cousin’s daughter. So, the problems, glory be to Allah.

The questioner : Is it authentic from Abu Bakr or 'Umar in this matter that he married a man who committed zina with a woman and a young man who committed zina with a girl after establishing the hadd of zina on them?

The Shaykh : Do I have knowledge of that?

The questioner : We read in some books of tafsir?

The Shaykh : In which issue do you mention?

The questioner : In... al-Ahkam by al-Sabuni, in the topic of zina, he mentioned it in the discussion. He quoted from Abu Bakr or from 'Umar, and I mostly think it was from Abu Bakr, that he established the hadd on them and married them to each other.

The Shaykh : Well, this is an easy problem. Is there a pregnancy of the woman or not?

The questioner : No, no pregnancy was mentioned in it.

The Shaykh : The problem is the existence of a pregnancy.

The questioner : And in a case like this, regarding the first husband, what is his position?

The Shaykh : The first husband.

The questioner : Yes, according to the Sharia, the first suitor, her suitor, her suitor.

The Shaykh : Is there a written contract on her?

The questioner : Yes, there is a written contract on her. She is under the responsibility of another man.

The questioner: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : According to the Sharia, what is required of him, the first suitor who did not commit zina?

The Shaykh : What is required of the one who committed zina, or of whom?

The questioner : No, of the suitor.

The Shaykh : Of the suitor, and did he know?

The questioner : He knew, and I went to his house to resolve the issue, but I have not reached a solution until this hour.

The Shaykh : Yes, how can the problem be solved?

The questioner : Ah, yes, it is a big problem.

The Shaykh : If the mahr was paid, it is returned.

The questioner : He is her cousin... her father’s brother.

The Shaykh : This is not important; it does not advance or delay anything.

The questioner : Yes, it seems to me from the family, despite their good religious inclination, that I felt they want to get her out of prison, and the young man too, that they want to get her out in order to marry her to her cousin, and then slaughter her.

The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah.

The questioner : Yes, that is what I deduced from their words and their actions. So I took the eldest among them, in whom I felt righteousness, and I took him outside and said to him, "Fear Allah regarding this girl. She has made a mistake, and you do not treat a mistake with another mistake. Look for a solution other than killing." He said, "No, we do not want to kill." I said to him, "But I see the young men are enthusiastic about this."

The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah.

The questioner : Yes, exactly.

The Shaykh : A disaster upon a disaster. Here is the problem: they become the cause of the problem, and after this, they want to get rid of her with another problem. They are lax in raising girls, they are lax in eliminating free mixing. Ah, there is no strange man here; this is her cousin, this is our relative, this is such and such, until the incident happens. When the incident happens, oh, for the sake of Allah’s jealousy, we want to kill, we want to die.

The questioner : A person has honor and he has jealousy.

The questioner : And after this, if they marry her to the previous one, it is haram, meaning because he has already had intercourse with her.

The Shaykh : Yes, it is haram.

The questioner : And it is haram for them to marry her to the first one.

The questioner : My teacher, some people said that in such issues, from the perspective of sadd al-dhara'i' (blocking the means to harm) and from the perspective of teaching the sinful girls and young men, that they should not do such an act and should rely on a solution that ends in marriage. Perhaps the young man is poor and cannot pay the mahr of a woman of high status, for example, or for example, so he breaks the engagement without his right and then it becomes his responsibility, and he marries her. What do some people say from the perspective of sadd al-dhara'i' and intimidation: we permit her family to kill this girl so that others will be afraid? Does this speech have any aspect of correctness?

The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah. This is contrary to the Sharia.

The questioner : I heard that al-Shafi'i says, "I kill him with her"?

The Shaykh : "I kill him with her"?

The questioner : If he killed her?

The Shaykh : Yes, it is transgressing the limits of Allah. This is the saying of al-Shafi'i; where did you get it from?

The questioner : One of them conveyed it to us.

The questioner : Well, my Shaykh, this is different from the husband who sees a man with his wife and kills them, based on the hadith of Sa'd. Is it different from that? Why is this permissible and that not permissible?

The Shaykh : Who said that this is permissible?

The questioner : I mean, it is not permissible in the state of a man’s agitation when he sees his wife in this state and kills her. The hadith indicates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prevented him.

The Shaykh : How? Did the hadith permit it? Then...

The questioner : ...

The Shaykh : This case, you want to look into another case.

The questioner : Killing.

The Shaykh : It would be, and after this, you want to compare the case of one who is not permitted to be killed because she is a virgin with the one who is permitted to be killed because she is a married woman, the wife of a jealous man. There is a great difference between the two matters.

The questioner : My Shaykh, there is a clear difference.

The Shaykh : I tell him it is not permissible.

The questioner : Here is an issue: what is derived from the hadith, my Shaykh? The hadith, .

The Shaykh : Indeed, Allah has prescribed the hudud because Allah is jealous, and indeed Sa'd is jealous, and indeed Allah is more jealous than Sa'd. And for that reason, He has forbidden the shameful acts.

The questioner : I mean, we benefit from this hadith that you should be patient, for Allah is more jealous and He will establish the hadd on her.

The Shaykh : There is no doubt that the one who kills his wife and sees her in a state of fornication, and jealousy takes him, is not like the one who kills another man’s woman, for example. There is a difference, but that does not mean that it is permissible for him to do so. It is not permissible to kill except after bringing the four witnesses, and this is very rare.

The questioner : My teacher, if here the marriage contract does not allow the ruler to establish the hadd except after intercourse, meaning if she is engaged and her husband has not yet had intercourse with her, and she commits zina, then the hadd of stoning is not established on her; rather, she is flogged. And the same is for the husband.

The Shaykh : Yes, and the same is for the husband.

The questioner : But if he had intercourse with her, even for one day, he has become muhsan.

The questioner: Allahu Akbar.