Parents responsibility of taking care of their son's illegitimate child

Q: Should someone accept their son’s illegals child and child’s mother. The son’s point of view that he is responsible of his deeds. Our point of view is that we will never accept the child and his mom as she is not his legal wife so only this behalf that she is child’s mother we can’t accept. We think that if we will accept them then we will part of his haraam action. Are we right or wrong?

A: What your son mentions is incorrect. In Shariah, the child born out of wedlock is not attributed to his biological father, and nor does his biological father have any rights and responsibilities over him. The biological father will not inherit from the child and nor will the child inherit from him. In other words, the child is not his child, but rather, the child is attributed to the mother and is regarded as her child. The child will inherit from her and she will inherit from the child. He should make sincere taubah for his haraam relationship and for his deeds. In fact, the added sin is that when the child is not his child in Shariah, then attributing the child to him and his family is haraam and a major sin. He should make taubah for this and refrain from this in future.

And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

 

Answered by:

Mufti Zakaria Makada

Checked & Approved:

Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)