❖ Will a Child Born Out of Wedlock Inherit?
Source: Fatawa Ameenpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri
❖ Question:
Does a child born through illicit relations (i.e., out of wedlock) inherit from the biological father?
❖ Answer:
A child born through zina (fornication/adultery) does not inherit from the biological father (zānī).
According to the Qur’an, inheritance is established only for those born from a valid marriage (nikāḥ ṣaḥīḥ).
Since a child born through zina has no established lineage (nasab) with the zānī, inheritance is not applicable.
❖ Prophetic Evidence:
❀ Sayyidah ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"الولد للفراش، وللعاهر الحجر."
"The child belongs to the (legal) bed, and the fornicator gets nothing but stones."
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 2053; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1457)
—
❀ Imām Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī رحمه الله stated:
"الحديث صحيح مشهور كاد أن يكون متواترا."
"This ḥadīth is authentic and well-known, and is nearly at the level of tawātur (mass transmission)."
(Sharḥ Musnad Abī Ḥanīfah: 1/55)
❖ Scholarly Consensus:
❀ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr رحمه الله (d. 774 AH) said:
"إنها لا ترث بالإجماع."
"Such a (fornication-born) daughter does not inherit — and this is by unanimous consensus."
(Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr: 2/248)
✔ Summary:
A child born through zina is not linked to the zānī in lineage or inheritance. Only children born from a valid marriage are recognized as legal heirs in Islam. This ruling is supported by authentic ḥadīths, scholarly consensus, and Islamic legal principles. The zānī has no rights or obligations over such a child in terms of inheritance.