Islamic marriage advice and family advice

Is our child haram?

Newborn baby boy

I would like to know if the child is haram who is born to a Muslim couple who are not married but living together?

Thanks,

shanafta.


Tagged as: , , ,

27 Responses »

  1. Shanafta, As-salamu alaykum,

    I'm about to leave for Eid salat, so I'll be brief. The child is not haram. There is no such thing as an illegitimate or haram child. Children are innocent and pure, and they are not blamed for the mistakes of their parents.

    However, your relationship is haram and sinful. I know you know this, so I won't lecture you except to say, be conscious of Allah. Be grateful to Him. He created you and gave you life, and what He asks of you is simple and clear.

    Wael
    IslamicAnswers.com Editor

    • I would just like to add a suggestion: If you are both muslim and living together, why have you not got married? If Allah was to take your soul this very minute, how would you justify living together in sin? You have no excuse. if you want Allah to be pleased with you, make your relationship halaal through nikah - although its your choice.

      As Wael very simply put: "Your relationship is haram and sinful. Be conscious of Allah."

      SisterZ
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

    • salaamu'alaykum brother.

      brother, how come you say there is no such thing as a illegitimate child [ Ibnu-zina/ bintu-zina ] when the prophet[saww] spoke of children from zina [ abnaa-u-zina ] in lowly terms

      Abu Dawood in his Sunan 4/39 and by Ahmad in al-Musnad (2/311) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
      “The illegitimate child is the most evil of the three” meaning more evil than his parents.

      The scholars who classed this as hasan were Ibn-Al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah in al-Manaar al-Muneef (133) and Muhammad Al-Albaani in al-Silsilat al-Saheehah (672).

      ofcourse the child is free from the sin of his oppressive parents
      as mentioned in al-Haakim (4/100) with a strong isnaad related by mother of believers ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her), that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The illegitimate child does not bear any part of his parents’ burden of sin. ‘and no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another’ [al-An’aam 6:164 – interpretation of the meaning].” (al-Silsilat al-Saheehah, 2186)

      the scholars of tafseer [muffasereen] and of hadeeth [muhadditheen] have reconciled between these two ahadeeth by saying that

      "AN ILLEGETIMATE CHILD WILL ALWAYS HAVE THE TENDANCY TO DO EVIL, AND TO HAVE REPULSIVE/DISGUSTING BEHAVIOR AS IT WAS BORN OF A HARAAM UNION".

      Not to mention that an ibnu-zina will NOT have all the rights of children born from halaal relationship.
      such as they will not get any inheritence.

      SISTER SHANAFTA, please i beg you to tell the parents of that child to hit the rug everynight at the last 1/3 of the night and to pray to Allaah and beg that he guides them and preserves them, for they have certainly oppressed him in the worst way possible.

      Also, tell them to NEVER EVER EVER TELL HIM THAT HE/SHE WAS BORN OF A HARAAM/SHAMEFULL RELATIONSHIP, he will hate his parents sooooooooooooooooo much, he may even kill them ['iyaathanbillaah] as has been the case before.let them forever keep quite about it, and hope to Allaah he does not find out

      Allaah ma'ak

      • That first hadith is bizarre, and since it completely contradicts everything we are taught in Islam about the innocence of children, and since it is classified as hasan but not Saheeh, and is not supported by any other hadith - in fact it is directly contradicted by other Saheeh hadith, I cannot accept it.

        Also your assertion that so-called illegitimate children do not inherit is incorrect. The child will not inherit from his father only if the father denies parentage. However, if the father acknowledges parentage then the child inherits normally.

        Wael
        IslamicAnswers.com Editor

        • brother, if a hadeeth is classified as hasan, then it is used both in 'aqeedah and practice, and not ignored in anyway whats so ever.
          all of the muhadditheen have unanimously agreed that a strong hadeeth is attributed to the prophet[saww].so please dont make inkaar of that hadeeth i quoted.
          and it comes from a different number of chains [called mutawaatir], making it even more stronger, or taking it up to the level of saheeh.

          also, the scholars like Shaykh-al-islaam say that the hadeeth means the illegitimate child [they all use this word, so did he (saww)] will be evil by nature later on in life and have more tendancy to do evil/immoral and have disgusting behavior.

          the hadeeths do not contradict eachother.

          as for the inheritance, the words of the prophet[saww] are very clear

          "Whichever man commits zina with a free or slave woman, the child (that she bears) is a child of zina. It neither inherits (from him) nor gives him inheritance." (Sahih al-Bukhari)"

          another right which children from zina loose is to be called by his forefathers name.
          EVEN if his father is known.
          so if a child of zina is called Ahmad, and his mother Aasiyyah, and his father ibraheem for instance, the child will be called Ahmad ibnu Aasiyyah, not ahmad ibn ibraaheem.

          wallaahi, nothing i said here is from my desire, and i have no problem against anyone.

          these are the opinions of the classical scholars such as imaam of the tabi'een sa'eed ibn-Al-Musayyab Ibn-Al-Qayyim, Ibn taymiyyah, , al albaani, ibn jibnreen etc.

          • It seems to be quite contradictory to the Quran and other ahadeeth.

            Also, your explanation that he has more of a tendency to commit sin doesn't make sense because it says "he is the worst of the three."

            It's true Allah could put souls that are the worst and destined to the fire in the bodies of illegitimate children as he is in control of which soul goes where.

            However I once read a pretty lengthy refutation of this from an authentic source.

        • If there is no such thing as halaal or haraam please explain to me then when is there a nikah only when it does not matter how the child is born it is still why Allah has kept nikah at all?? Why is there a concept mehram and nameham??

          • Farzana, zinaa is a major sin. The responsibility for the sin is on the one who commits it, NOT on the child. Every child is born pure on the fitrah, without sin. A child cannot be haram in its nature, because its nature is pure. Every child is halal.

            Wael
            IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      • Well I don't totally agree but.. Yes It's possible in "Hate" that child will become killer "hard hearted", Or He will become most pious pure "Muslim" like an angel... (so it's important that child upbringing from childhood should be in more Islamic moral way, he should lear Islam and Quran, then am sure he will be Gentleman like an Angel)

        Jazaka'Ăllahu Khayran
        Harun Barlas Mogul

  2. Salaam

    I am not sure if this question is regarding yourself? So I will answer generally. As said above, the child is innocent in all of this so is not haraam. His or her parents actions have no bearing on the child. The parents in question should first both fear Allah and stop this haraam relationship, repent sincerely and change themselves. They should make a firm intention to stay away from zina or from being anywhere near it in future.
    They should either:
    Leave this haraam relationship permanently or
    Leave it temporarily and marry.

    If they do decide to marry contact between the couple should be within islamic boundaries (not alone together etc) until after the nikah. Even if they decide to part ways the father and mother should both play an active part in the childs life.

    Sara
    IslamicAnswers.com Editor.

  3. No, your child is precious & innocent. You should be married if you love each other.

  4. Assalamu alaikum,

    The child is innocent.........Its a major sin you are both committing which you should come out of it asap.

    What will you tell your child when your child find out that it was born out of wedlock???

    Salam

  5. in response to Abu Az-Zubayr, you seem to be trying to make a strong point that a child born to parents who are unmarried will naturally be evil. Do you not look around you everyday and see with the eyes that Allah has given that there are so many human beings born to parents who married before bearing children who have committed sins beyond evil and disgusting. A child is innocent and pure until he/she comes to an age of maturity and understanding. I understand you may be going by things you have been taught but there is such a thing called common sense.
    A child is not punished for the actions of his/her parents.

    • brother let me say one more time, the sayings of the prophet[s] dont contradict eachother, contradiction is in our mind, and both of those ahadeeth are attributed to him[saww].
      once the hadeeth is verified to be strong,powerfull one, then you dont ever include your common sence, that belongs somewhere else.

      imaam 'Ali said "if the religion was based on common sence, then the bottom of the sock would be wiped instead of ther top of it during wudhu"

      Allaah in the Qur'aan and the prophet[saww] both clearified that a child of zina is free from the sin of his parents.this is made clear.

      but that hadeeth as is already said by people of knowledge means that an illegitimate child will have more tendancy to commit evil, much much more than normal children.

      this is simply what it means,and this is the case, its not lowering anyone.

      mention one ellegitimate child who grew up to be a scholar, haafidh etc.

      noone said here that a child will be punished etc.

  6. Asalam walikum brothers and sisters,

    I just want to get somthing cleared, I have heared that if a child is born in a haram way then the child would be haram? Is that true? And also if the parents was to get married after with good intentions then that child wwill be a halal child? Is this true?

    • A child cannot be "haram". Life is a gift from Allah. Every human being is equal in Allah's sight. A man is only superior or inferior according to his taqwa.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  7. Abu az zubayr wat u are saying havent heard of it

  8. I understand what the scholars have said and agree with them on the reasoning behind such awful feelings about a child from zina. In a perfect world everybody would follow Islam. No one will commit a sin. And people of the umah will be fruitful. No, unfortunately I live in 2014. Where nothing is perfect. At this point you have to use the interpretation of our time. It is a humanitarian act to take care of an abandon child. A child that doesn't have a home. A child that needs guidance to not only survive in this world but to succeed in deen.
    Whoever thinks that a child who was born out of wedlock or a child who doesn't know where he came from should become untouchable is an idiot. No child is evil. Evil is within the person who wants to judge others. Islam wants to be better people. It wants us to help society become better not abandon children due to some false presumption.

  9. 1. If a couple has committed zina, the woman falls pregnant, and they marry before the child is born. Is the child still regarded as illegitimate?
    2. If a couple commits zina, woman falls pregnant and the couple gets married after the child is born. Is the child regarded as illegitimate?
    3. How does inheritance affect children in both these scenarios?

    • 1. Yes. However it should be said that the child is blameless of the parents' sin, and should not be discriminated against in any way.
      2. Yes, with the same caveat.
      3. If the father acknowledges the child as his, then the child can take his name and inherit from him as usual. If the father denies parentage, then the child must take the mother's last name and will not inherit from the man.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  10. I want to ask a question,,,, A women is married with a man for almost a decade, she is healthy and fertile while her husband is impotent and infertile as well as almost double of her age. she commits a sin, sleeps with another man and gets pregnant. after 4 or 5 months tells her husband about pregnancy. Her husband knows very well that is not his child, gets angry and tells her if she wanted this could have done by getting divorce from him and getting married with another suitable man.... at last he agreed to give his name to that upcoming child on condition that she would never commit that sin again. Her husband forgives her sin and accepts her upcoming child by accepting as his own and tells everyone in and outside family he is going to be a father. Question is what Islams says in this condition ?.. If her husband should have divorced her ? If he should have forced her for abortion ? and after all of that what he should do ?

    • No one can say if he "should have" divorced her. It's a personal choice that he must make, and it seems he made it. He should certainly not have forced her to abort, since abortion is haram in Islam. My concern going forward would be that if he man continues to be impotent, then it's likely the wife will cheat on him again, since she's already demonstrated a proclivity for it.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  11. I was here just because the girl i love, i doubt in her birth that she's not the "Nutfa-e-halal".
    But there's a loong discussion in two groups, one is about to prove the birth of that baby halal (WHICH IS NOT RIGHT), The other is saying that the baby has not took birth according to Islamic laws and prohibitions(IT IS BY THE WAY, RIGHT UNFORTUNATELY)!!
    A suggestion for you, Although ya child is to be honest, not halal and it is nutfa e haram but bro! sis! You should correct your mistakes now and get married and try to give that baby a better life and seek the forgiveness of Allah Almighty.
    Maybe, He'll forgive you for He is The Ghafoor and The Raheem.
    Discussion close.
    Allah e hafid.

    • Malik, do you even hear the nonsense coming out of your mouth? You love a girl but you have doubts about her because of her birth? Something that occurred years ago over which she has no control? What about her character, behavior, deen, etc? You don't care about those? Only about her birth? Your focus is completely wrong.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  12. i am a muslim but i hate may parents of commiting that act and found my self with a big ibtilaa in this foolish dunia that is what a child is about , a child need to be resisstent and thankls full to allah no matter to approve his fathl mina allah

  13. lo to me... for I am born out of zina. I didn't know until my mother told me when I was pregnant with my 1st daughter (halaal yeah for me ) lol forgive me but when you are the actual "bastard" you have to have a sense of humour. Allah knows best.

    so to all you wonderful people out there who were born right... lucky you.

    my life has been harsh from the get go and I always wondered why. yesterday after an argument with my darling mother (remember now... my jannah is still under her feet lol) I realised why. I was conceived as a dog is conceived and I have lived as dogs live. new meaning to the word born bad.

    so what I am trying to say is bite me... may Allah curse all false hadeeth and those who spread it. stop trying to be so dammed important with your forsaken opinion, Allah alone can judge and punish.

  14. A.O.A
    i m muslim but my gril friend is non Muslim we have ........ but now she is one half month pregnant now she told me about it if i merrid her thats baby will be hala ,what is his kofara etc anything please reply on on my email i feel very bad about it its my life first time i never done with anyone ?

Leave a Response

Cancel Reply