The invalidity of marrying a fifth wife or more

Question: If a man has four wives and marries a fifth, and she bears him a child or more, is her child attributed to him?

Answer: There is no doubt in the invalidity of the marriage to the fifth wife, and this is like the consensus of the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them). Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned in his tafsir that the scholars, except for the Shi'ah, have agreed on the prohibition of marrying a fifth wife. There is a well-known disagreement among scholars regarding the obligation of applying the hadd punishment to the man who marries a fifth wife, as mentioned by Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) in his tafsir, and by other scholars.
As for attributing the child to him, there is a detailed ruling. If he believed this marriage was lawful due to ignorance, a doubtful matter, or following a scholar without knowing his evidence, the child is attributed to him; otherwise, it is not attributed to him. The author of al-Mughni and others mentioned this meaning regarding a man who marries a woman during her waiting period. It is known that marrying a woman during her waiting period is invalid by the consensus of the scholars, and yet the lineage is attributed to the man if he has a doubtful matter, such as ignorance that she is in her waiting period, or ignorance of the prohibition of marrying a woman in her waiting period if someone like him would be ignorant of it. If the lineage is attributed to the man in that case when he has a doubtful matter, then its attribution to the man who marries a fifth wife is even more appropriate; because there is no disagreement regarding the invalidity of marrying a woman in her waiting period, unlike the marriage to a fifth wife, where the Shi'ah disagreed regarding its prohibition and invalidity, although the disagreement of people like them should not be considered. Also, some of the Zahiris disagreed on this, as Al-Qurtubi mentioned in his tafsir. And because the scriptural evidence indicates the legislator's desire to preserve lineages and not to lose them, it is obligatory to take care of this and not to discard any lineage, as long as there is a lawful means to do so.
There is no doubt that a doubtful matter averts the hadd punishments and necessitates the attribution of lineage. A hadd punishment may be averted by a doubtful matter, and this does not prevent imposing a discretionary punishment on the accused that is less than the hadd, while maintaining the attribution of lineage, in order to combine the benefits of the Shari'ah. And success is from Allah.