Establishment of lineage for children born of zina

Question

Question: The children of an adulteress are, according to Imam A‘zam ﵀ and Imam Ahmad, forbidden (haram), and according to Imam al-Shafi‘i ﵀ and Imam Malik ﵀ permissible, and they adduce as proof the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: [ar]الحرام لا يفسد الحلال[/ar] “The unlawful does not corrupt the lawful.” It is also known from some Companions that it is permissible. Since there is disagreement among the Companions and the Imams, may someone act on the view of Imam al-Shafi‘i or not?

Answer

The children that a woman who has no husband will have are children of zina; there is no disagreement about this among anyone: [ar]لِقَوْلِهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ: الْوَلَدُ لِلْفِرَاشِ وَلِلْعَاهِرِ الْحَجَرُ[/ar] “Because of his ﷺ saying: ‘The child belongs to the bed (firash), and for the fornicator is the stone’” (“Sahih al-Bukhari”).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.