she bore the child with such-and-such characteristics, it would belong to so-and-so; but if she bore it with such-and-such characteristics, it would belong to Hilal. (1) This indicates that the child may be disavowed before birth. And if we assume that it is not a child, what harm does that cause us?! Indeed, if it is not a child, that is even better; and if it was a child but died before being delivered, the ruling does not change.
As for the second issue—whether the husband’s liʿān alone is sufficient—the correct view is that it is sufficient. For Allah says concerning liʿān: “But it will avert the punishment from her...” In the case where the husband engages in liʿān in order to disavow the child, is she liable to any punishment?
The answer is: she is not liable to punishment, because he has not accused her of fornication, such that punishment would befall her. Liʿān by both spouses is necessary only when he has accused her of fornication, so that she may clear herself. But if a man says, “You have not committed fornication, but this child is not mine,” then the correct view is that there is no objection to this, and that the child’s non-attribution to him is established by the husband’s liʿān alone. He says four times: “I bear witness by Allah that the child in her womb, if she is pregnant—or this child, after it is born—is not mine.” Then, the fifth time, he says that Allah’s curse be upon him if he is lying.
His statement: “If a trustworthy woman testifies that it was born upon his bed, its lineage is attributed to him, and there is no liʿān.” The author, may Allah have mercy on him, has combined one issue with another. His statement, “If a trustworthy woman testifies that it was born upon his bed,” concerns the case where he says this after irrevocably separating from her—that is, after he has made her irrevocably divorced and she then gives birth. He says, “This child is not mine,” but a trustworthy woman testifies that it was born upon his bed before he irrevocably separated from her. This is why he presented it in al-Muqniʿ, which is the basis of this book,