The ruling on a woman who becomes pregnant by a non-Muslim

Question

Question: In this time of disorder, Hindus forcibly carried off many Muslim women, kept them in their houses and committed zina with them. Some of the women have returned, and a few of them are pregnant. After birth, will the child be illegitimate or legitimate? And will there be no sin in having such a pregnancy aborted? And in the event of delivery, what will be done with the child? Kindly write with proofs from the books of fiqh; it will be a true kindness.

Answer

As for the children of those women who have no husbands but are virgins or widows, there is no way at all for them to be legitimate. But no one has the right to categorically call the children of those who do have husbands illegitimate: is it far-fetched that at the time the Hindus forcibly carried off these women they were already pregnant by their husbands, and the zina…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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