If the zaani (fornicator) admits to paternity of his illegitimate child, should the child be attributed to him?

Question: 175523

My father accepted Islam before my birth but my claims he did not have the correct understanding of the deen and was not practicing, him and my mother were not married nor was my mother Muslim when they had me so I was born as a result of zina. My question is that since my father recognizes me as his child and he is the only male muslim in my family does that make him my wali? And if not is the choice mines to appoint whom I like to handle my affairs?.

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.

If the zaani
acknowledges and admits paternity of his illegitimate child, should the
child be attributed to him and regarded as a legitimate child of his, with
all the attendant rulings on parents and offspring, or not?

There is a
difference of opinion among the scholars concerning this issue.

The majority
of scholars are of the view that the illegitimate child is not to be
attributed to the zaani, even if he acknowledges him and wants to attribute
the child to himself; rather the child is to be attributed to his mother
only.

Some of the
scholars are of the view that if the zaani wants to attribute his
illegitimate child to himself, then the child should be attributed to him.
This is also the view of some of the salaf (early generations) and was
narrated from Imam Abu Haneefah.

This
difference of opinion has been discussed previously in the answer to
question no. 33591

The view
that the illegitimate child is to be attributed to the zaani if he wants to
acknowledge him and if the mother was not married to any other man, is more
correct, and Allah knows best. It was the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) and his student Ibn al-Qayyim.
See: al-Ikhtiyaaraat al-Fiqhiyyah (p. 477) and Zaad al-Ma‘aad
(5/374).

Ad-Daarimi
narrated in his Sunan (3106) that Sulaymaan ibn Yasaar said: If a man
claims that a boy is his son and that he committed zina with his mother, and
no one else claims that boy as his, then he may inherit from him.

Ibn
al-Qayyim said: Rationally speaking, the father is one of the two parties
involved in the act (of zina), and as the child is attributed to his mother
and she may inherit from him and he may inherit from her, and the blood
relationship is established between him and the mother’s relatives, even
though she bore him as the result of zina and the child was the product of
the water of both parties and they both agreed that he is their child, why
shouldn’t the child be attributed to him if there is no other man who claims
to be this child’s father. This is based purely on rational thinking.

End quote
from Zaad al-Ma‘aad, 5/374

Based on
this opinion, your father is your shar‘i guardian and in that case you do
not need to choose someone else to be in charge of your affairs when he is
still present.

And Allah knows best.

Source:

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