The Jurisprudential Status of the Walad al-Zina (Child Born Out of Adultery) A Comparative Study of Islamic Law and the Opinion of Imam Abu Jaʿfar al-Dawudi (d. 402 AH)

Abstract

This article includes several additions that have not previously been recorded concerning the biography of Imam Abū Jaʿfar al-Dāwūdī (d. 402 AH). It also undertakes a juristic study of his well-known opinion permitting the attribution of a child born out of wedlock to the biological father. The study addresses the various forms and aspects of this issue, noting that attributing an illegitimate child to the biological father is unanimously impermissible when the woman involved is married, with no scholar dissenting on this point. However, when the woman is not married, scholars have differed, even though consensus has been reported on its prohibition. The view permitting such attribution in this latter case is held by a number of early and later jurists, and it is the position adopted by Imam al-Dāwūdī; therefore, following this opinion today and issuing judicial rulings accordingly is unobjectionable.