#1132: Advice To The Married Woman Who Had Extramarital Affair

Salamun Alaykum Warahmatullah Wabarakatuh Ustaadh.
May Allaah protect you.

My question is.
What is the ruling and what advice can be given to a woman who got married and had an extra marital affair with her boss (two months after she got married) and when she put to bed, she discovered that the baby is actually for the boss due to some resemblance and trait she observed in the child. At this juncture, what should she do.
The husband also suffers from low sperm count which has also raised some suspicion but no confrontation has been made regarding the issue.

Is she to inform her husband that the baby is not his or the boss should be told that he is the father of the baby?

ANSWER:

Wa Alaykum Salam Warahmatullah Wabarakaatuh.

Alhamdulillah.

We ask Allah for Tawfiq and Sadaad, for forgiveness and repentance, for protection from the covetousness of our hearts and the darkest desires in our souls, amin.

There is no doubt that this is of the worst of crimes that a Muslim can commit and it is a great crime that only Allah can forgive and overlook. It is an agreement among the Fuqahaa past and present that of the 6 Daruriyyaat necessities of life, the sanctity of the private organs is the third in rank after only Din and Life. Thus the violation of the private organs is worse than embezzlement of Muslim treasury, than misapproiprating trust with which you are entrusted, and than theft. This is Zinah on its surface. It gets worse when it is the Zinah of the married (Muhsan) because it has added a violation of the genitals of another man, the corruption of a progeny, the betrayal of trust and the transgression of more rights, all to the original crime that Zina by itself already is.
How did this happen? Several limits of Allah were already transgressed repeatedly to achieve such a waywardness. Otherwise Zina, especially of the married woman does not happen all of a sudden. So many limits of Allah had already been transgressed. All of these limits transgressed are by themselves sins in their own rights for which punishments of Allah are certain unless a person secures the forgiveness and pardon of Allah…

What is obligatory upon such a sister is to seek forgiveness and repent whole heartedly to Allah, to determine never to return to such a crime and to go closer to Allah in a seek for forgiveness and pardon. There is no mincing words about it. This is a very serious crime for which immediate Tawbah and ‘Inaabah are obligatory.

As for the child, then there is no need to assume that the child is not for her Husband. This is because in the Hadith that was agreed upon by both Imaam Al-Bukhaari and Muslim, the Rasul salallahu alayhi wasallam said:

الولد للفراش وللعاهر الحجر

“The Child belongs to the Owner of the Bed and the Intruding man has nothing to claim”

The Fuqahaa are concensed, as was stated by An-Nawawi in the Minhaaj that this Hadith revolves around the Asl (Default Ruling) of the Child that was born by a married woman. Provided the husband has not denied the child and repudiated the fathership of the child then neither the traits of the child nor the claim of an Intruding Zaani man can shift fathership of the child from the husband. This is because one of the Goals of the Shar’iah is to preserve the lineages of people and to maintain sanity and sanctified of families

The woman in this case cannot attribute the child to the intruding man (her boss) even if she knows, based on the time of inception that the child is for the Zaani or based on traits. All of this, provided the husband has not repudiated ownership and has not accused the wife of Adultery
Muwaffaquddin Ibn Qudaamah Al-Maqdisi rahimahullah said in Al-Mughni that even if her husband was away from her for 20 years and she delivers of a baby, the baby must be attributed to him.

Then, there is no obligation on this woman to discuss the matter with her husband or to discuss it with the Zaani Intruder whom she has regarded as her boss. What is required of her is to keep this a secret between her and Allah, to hasten to Tawbah, to break all ties with the boss by leaving the job that brings them together and to dedicate herself to her husband without any reservations.

Tawbah, Tawbah, Tawbah. This is what is obligatory upon her and to draw close to Allah. We ask Allah to make Tawbah easy for her and to grant her forgiveness and understanding, amin

Barakallahu Fikum
Jazakumullahu Khayran.

Abū Āsim

15th Dhu Al-Qa’adah, 1442AH.

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