Fath al-Rabbani

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The child will be attributed to the one on whose bed it is born.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that I heard the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: The child will belong to the owner of the bed, while the adulterer will receive stones.

Sayyiduna ‘Ubada bin Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the same manner.

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that regarding the son of Zam‘a’s slave woman, ‘Abd bin Zam‘a and Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) disputed before the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). ‘Abd bin Zam‘a said: O Messenger of Allah! This is my brother, because he is the son of my father’s slave woman and was born on his bed. Sayyiduna Sa‘d (may Allah be pleased with him) said: My brother, when I came to Mecca, told me that when you come to Mecca, look at the son of Zam‘a’s slave woman, he is my son. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) saw the child’s resemblance to ‘Utbah, but he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O ‘Abd! He is your brother, the child belongs to the one on whose bed he was born. Also, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Sawdah! Observe veil from him.

Mujahid, the freed slave of the family of Zubair, narrates: It is reported from Zam‘ah’s daughter, that is, Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyidah Sawdah (may Allah be pleased with her), she says: I came to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: My father Zam‘ah has passed away and has left behind a slave woman who is an umm walad (a slave woman who has borne a child), we used to accuse her with a man (Utbah bin Abi Waqqas) that he committed adultery with her. Coincidentally, the child she gave birth to resembles that very Utbah, with whom we had made the accusation. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered me: Observe veiling from him, he is not your brother, however, he will inherit.

Rabah says: My family married me to a Roman slave girl, and from her a dark-skinned boy was born who resembled me, and I named him Abdullah. I met her again, and she gave birth to another dark-skinned boy like me, whom I named Ubaidullah. Our family had a Roman slave, and he seduced her; his name was Yohannes. This slave disgraced himself with the slave girl, and she gave birth to a child who was like a lizard, that is, of a reddish-white color. I said to the slave girl: What is this? She clearly stated that it was Yohannes’s. We took the matter to the Commander of the Faithful, Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him). Mahdi bin Maimoon says: Both of them confessed to the sin. Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Shall I judge between you with the judgment of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? They said: That is fine. Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) judged that the child belongs to the owner of the bed, and the adulterer gets the stone. Mahdi says: Since both of them were slaves, they were given lashes.

(Second chain) A similar hadith is narrated from Rabah, except that in it: They attributed that boy to my lineage, and both of them were flogged, and Rabah says: After that, the slave-girl gave birth to a child, and he too was dark-skinned (just as my complexion was).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) issued this ruling: that a boy or girl whose lineage has been attributed to his father, in whose name he is called and to whom he is connected, after the death of his father, and then if there are claimants to that boy or girl after the death of that father, and regarding the slave woman as well, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) gave the same ruling: that the one who was her owner on the day he had intercourse with her, the lineage of the child will be attributed to him, to the one who has demanded the attribution of lineage. However, if the inheritance of the father has already been distributed before the attribution of lineage, then the one to whom the lineage is attributed will not receive any share from it, and if he attains the inheritance that has not yet been distributed, then he will receive a share from it. And if the person to whom the boy or girl is attributed denies it, and if the child is from a slave woman whom he did not own, or from a free woman with whom he committed adultery, then in this case, the child will neither be attributed to his lineage nor will the boy or girl inherit from him. And if the father for whom the boy or girl is called claims him, whether from a slave woman or a free woman, then he is a child of adultery.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) narrates that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There is no existence in Islam for fornication on wages; whoever did so in the time of ignorance, I attribute his lineage to the relatives of his father, and whoever claims to be the father of someone without marriage, neither will the child inherit from him nor will he inherit from the child.

Sayyiduna Zayd bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was in Yemen. A woman was brought to him, with whom three men had intercourse during one period of purity. He said to two of them: "Do you both acknowledge the child in favor of the third?" They did not acknowledge. Then he asked two others: "Do you acknowledge the child for the third?" They also did not acknowledge. Then he asked two others, but they also did not acknowledge. Then he cast lots among them and assigned the child to the one whose name was drawn, and made it obligatory for him to pay two-thirds of the blood money. When this matter was presented before the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he smiled so much that his molar teeth became visible.

(Sec­ond chain) A similar narration is reported, except that in it: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), after their refusal, said to them: "You are such partners who quarrel among yourselves. Now I will cast lots among you; whoever's name is drawn, I will assign to him two out of three shares of the blood money, and he will also be required to take the child." When this decision was mentioned to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he said: "The decision that Ali has made is the one that makes sense."