He Married a Fifth Wife and She Bore Him Children: Are They Attributed to Him?

Question :

If a man has four wives and he marries a fifth and she bears him one or more children, are her children. attributed to him?

Answer:

There is no doubt regarding the invalidity of the fifth marriage and that is according to the consensus of the scholars may Allah have mercy on them. Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir-may Allah have mercy on him-has mentioned in his Tafsir, that the scholars apart from the Shiites are in agreement that it is forbidden to marry a fifth wife. Regarding the obligation to execute the one who marries a fifth wife there is a well known difference of opinion this was mentioned by Al- Qurtubi-may Allah have mercy on him in his Tafsir and by other scholars.

As for the child being attributed to him, it requires clarification: If he believed that this marriage was permissible due to ignorance or uncertainty or blind following, he is attributed to him. But if not, he is not attributed to him; and the author of Al- Mughni and others have mentioned this regarding one who marries a wife during her waiting period.

It is well known that the marriage of a woman during her waiting period is invalid, but in spite of this, the lineage is attributed to the groom if he was in doubt. Like if he did not know that she was in her waiting period, or was ignorant of the prohibition of marrying a woman in her waiting period, if one like him could be ignorant of that.

If the lineage is attributed in this matter to the groom, if he is in doubt, then the attribution of it to one who marries a fifth wife is more worthy, because there is no dispute regarding the invalidity of marrying a woman in her waiting period, as opposed to marrying a fifth wife. The Shiites have disagreed regarding its prohibition and its invalidity, although it is not sensible that anyone should pay any consideration to the disagreement of their like. Some of the Zahiriyyah also disagreed on that, as reported by Al-Qurtubi in his Tafsir. Because the legal evidences prove the intent of the Lawmaker (i.e., Allah) to preserve lineage, and not to lose it, it is necessary to pay regard to it, and not to lose any lineage by any legal means available. There is no doubt that uncertainty averts the punishment of execution, and necessitates the attribution of the lineage. Execution might be averted due to uncertainty, but this does not prevent the accused from being chastised by some lesser punishment, along with the view that the lineage is attributed to him, in order to attain (all of) the lawful benefits. And Allah is the Granter of success.

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