Reverted to Islam and wants to marry the Muslim man from whom she had an illegitimate child

17-8-2006 | IslamWeb

Question:

What is the Fatwa regarding couples (Muslim male & Non-Muslim female) who has child out of wedlock wherein the non-Muslim female has reverted to Islam and trying to be a good Muslim except that she still continues her sexual relationship with the man out of ignorance about the gravity of her mistake. But now, both are being bugged by guilt of their situation and want to correct it. Can they be allowed to marry and continue as husband and wife in Islam if they BOTH fast continuously for 60 days to atone for their sins? Please show us in Hadith or In the Holy Qur'an that says it's ok...JAZZA ALLAHU KHAIR!!!

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

In Islam, repentance wipes out previous sins. Therefore, these two Muslim persons are obliged to repent for committing this great major sin, but there is no expiation for it. They can marry after truly repenting from Zina (fornication); for more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 89823.

The child should be traced back to the mother, and in relation to the man, the child takes the ruling of a step-child.

Fatwa 84788, gives the details of the rulings of such a child so please refer to it.

Allaah Knows best.