How does Islam view illegitimate children?

Question

Are they secretely shunned?

Answer 1

The child is not blamed for the crime of its parents and shouldnt be shunned - however children only come from wedlock so its wouldnt have all the rights of a normal child

Is a child born before marriage considered legitimate if they subsequently marry?
Answered by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari

If a Muslim brother and sister had a child before their marriage, but now they are married. He is the biological father of the baby. Is this child considered illegitimate child and will this child inherit the wealth of the father?

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

There is a famous Hadith narrated by Sayyiduna Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

“The child will be attributed to the husband and the adulterer will receive the stone.” (Sahih Muslim, no: 1458)

The meaning of this Hadith is that, the right of paternity will always be for the person to whom the mother of the child is married. Hence, paternity will not be established with the adulterer. If the woman is unmarried, the child will only be attributed to her.

The Hadith says that the adulterer will receive the stone, meaning that he is liable to be stoned as punishment and not receive the child or (as some scholars have explained) the meaning of stone here is “deprivation”, meaning he will not have the right of paternity.

Moreover, the jurists mention that if one was to marry a woman whom one had impregnated and the child was to be born six months or more after marriage, then the child will be considered legitimate. However, if the child was born prior to six months elapsing, he/she will not be considered legitimate. (See: Radd al-Muhtar and other Fiqh references)

Thus, in light of the above, if the child is already born before marrying its mother, the child will, without doubt, be considered illegitimate; hence paternity will not be established with whom she had committed adultery, even if he was to marry her.

Therefore, this child born out of wedlock will not inherit from his/her mother’s husband. However, one may make a bequest up to one third of one’s wealth for the child, so that the child is not completely deprived from the wealth of his stepfather.

One should also remember that this should not deter the man from treating his stepchild as his own child. He should take care of the child, look after him and treat him as his own child. Thus, the above ruling does not mean he should treat the child as a stranger. Taking good care of the child will be greatly rewarded by Allah Most High.

And Allah knows best

Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=12&ID=4015&CATE=95&redirect=yes

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Children: Rights of an illegitimate child

May I ask the responsibilities of a man who has a child born to him by an illegitimate relationship? What are the rights of the child? Does the man have to marry the mother? If so, does she need her father's permission to marry him? What about financial support to the child and how far is the father responsible to provide Islamic education to the child?

When a Muslim commits a sin, particularly one which is punishable by a specific punishment, he should not publicize what he has done. Publicity is an additional sin. If he makes a confession of what he had done, the punishment prescribed by Allah must be enforced. To make such a confession is permissible, but the Prophet teaches us that a person who commits a sin should not lift the mantle with which Allah has covered it. Therefore, a person who commits adultery should not publicize that. If he has a child born to him illegitimately and he marries the mother of the child, no one will ask him about the legitimacy of the child.

The relationship between an illegitimate child and his father is broken. That means that neither the child nor the father have any rights or duties toward each other. The two are like strangers. This means that the child does not have the right to be supported by the father, but equally the father cannot require the child to be dutiful to him.

However, the family relationship between the child and his mother is perfectly established and should be observed. The child has all the rights which any child claims from his mother, and so does she from him. He inherits her and she inherits him in the normal way. He must be dutiful to her and she has to support him.

You ask whether a man should or must marry the mother of his illegitimate child. There is an important rule included in Verse 3 of Surah 24 which states: "An adulterous man may only marry an adulterous woman or one who associates partners with Allah; while an adulterous woman may only be married to an adulterous man or one who associates partners with Allah. This is forbidden to believers." Therefore, one may not marry a partner who practices adultery or takes it lightly. If a man or a woman is known to do so, it is not permissible for a Muslim to marry him or her. It is only when such a person repents of his or her past conduct and resolves not to do it again that he or she may be married to a Muslim. In the light of the foregoing, if the man has repented of his sin, he may marry the woman if she has also repented. If both feel that they have done wrong and they want to live a proper life, obeying Allah and his messenger, they may get married and the man is recommended to help the woman keep her error a secret and bring up the child normally.

The marriage of such a woman is the same as the marriage of any other woman. In Islam, she must have her father or guardian present at her marriage.

It is needless to say that every child is entitled to be given proper Islamic education. How else could the father expect the child to avoid the sin which he himself has been guilty of?
http://www.ourdialogue.com/c6.htm

Custody and rearing of illegitimate children
Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

A Muslim man has an illegitimate daughter from a prior relationship with a non Muslim woman. He is now married and his wife is aware of his past and the child. She is willing to rear the child as her own. Should he strive to get custody of his daughter so that he may raise her to be a Muslim?

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the next.

It would be highly praiseworthy of the individual in question to seek the means to get custody of his daughter, if he has the resolve and means to raise her well.

As for accountability, sincere repentance lifts past sins. However, what remains are the rights of others, and if this person doesn't try to get custody of the child--when able to do so, or to arrange that she be raised by Muslims in some other way--then he may well be responsible for that on the Day of Judgment.

We should remember the words of Allah Most High,

Believers, guard yourselves and your families against a Fire whose fuel is men and stones, and over which are harsh, terrible angels who disobey not God in what He commands them and do what they are commanded. 'O you unbelievers, do not excuse yourselves today; you are only being recompensed for what you were doing.'

"O Believers, turn to God in sincere repentance; it may be that your Lord will acquit you of your evil deeds, and will admit you into gardens underneath which rivers flow.

Upon the day when God will not degrade the Prophet and those who believe with him, their light running before them, and on their right hands; and they say, 'Our Lord, perfect for us our light, and forgive us; surely Thou art powerful over everything.'" [Qur'an, 66: 6-8]

And Allah alone gives success.

Faraz Rabbani

Answer 2

Illegitimate Child In Islam

Answer 3

I so need the truth about this situation. My husband slept with another Muslim brothers wife for the first 3 1/2 years of our marriage and end up getting her pregnant. I didn t find out about it until after I had our daughter which is only 4 months older than the child they conceived together. My question is what is the rules in Islam for this child being delt with? I ve been told by one iman that the child is suppose to be shun. I can t stand dealing with this situation but I didnt want to just hand my husband over to this woman and give up on my marriage so I stayed.

Answer 4

islam view illegitimate children

Answer 5

no, they aren't. . But in Islam they aren't persons to blame.
Usually people who performed illegitimate sex and the woman got pregnant they either go for abortion, or give birth to the babies and put them on doors of the mosque, usually they send them to orphanage. but other than that Islam has nothing against them.
Although some people in societies would shun them but that is out of ignorance and misunderstanding.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

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That one of the problems with Islamic Scieties today due to poor implementation of the law which derived from depending too much on hadiths. The sharia laws based on hadiths are too absurd & tyranic. How could an illigitimate child who has nothing to do with the parents' sins has got to bear the illigitimate name & humility for the rest of his/her life? How would the illigitimate child be able to get married when his/her identity (born out of wedlock) is required to be displayed and announced to the entire society? And also deprived him/her from heirs or the estates left by the parents?

Answer 8

No, the children are not shunned. Some are given up for adoption and others remain with the mother and her family. If they remain with their biological family, the man of the house becomes responsible for that child's welfare (this is usually the baby's grandfather, or sometimes an uncle).

Answer 9

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Answer 10

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Answer 11

my view point is if muslim men stop seeking non-muslim women then this would not be a problem. no one would raised my children but me and the father even if he was muslim I would not abort or put my child up for adoption.....this living in the dark ages.