Accusing One’s Wife of Adultery Due to a Child’s Different Skin Colour

Written by: Imran Ayub Lahori


Accusing a wife of zinā merely because a child’s complexion is different is not permissible in Islam.


During the time of the Prophet ﷺ, a man came to him and said that a dark-skinned child had been born to him.


The Prophet ﷺ asked:


“Do you have some camels?”
He replied: “Yes.”
The Prophet ﷺ said: “What is their colour?”
He replied: “They are reddish in colour.”
The Prophet ﷺ asked: “Is there among them one that is greyish-white?”
He said: “Yes.”
The Prophet ﷺ asked: “Where did that come from?”
He replied: “Perhaps some hereditary trait pulled it out from its lineage.”
The Prophet ﷺ then said: “Similarly, perhaps some hereditary trait has pulled out your child (to resemble a distant ancestor).”


Reference:
[Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 5305, Kitāb al-Ṭalāq, Bāb Idhā ʿUriḍa bi-Nafī al-Walad]
 
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