The Lineage of a Child after Ten Years of Separation

Question

Question: A man left his home for abroad and did not come back home for ten years, nor did his wife go to him. And here, after 8 years, a boy is born to the wife. Is he illegitimate or legitimate? Kindly write down the proof from the Glorious Qur’an, and also resolve this mas’ala: in “Bihishti Zewar” (“Heavenly Ornaments”), part four, p.

Answer

This mas’ala is written correctly in “Bihishti Zewar”; it is also found in other books of fiqh. The mujtahid jurists wrote all mas’alas precisely on the basis of the Qur’an and hadith; this one too is taken from the noble hadith. The position of the muqallid (one who follows the imam of a madhhab) is that he acts upon the mas’alas which his imam has derived (istinbat)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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