the rulings governing contracts. This hadith had not reached those who held this view. That is what appears to be the case, for their earlier books did not include it. Had it reached them, they would have mentioned it, either accepting it or answering it. Alternatively, it may have reached them and they interpreted it differently, believed it to have been abrogated, or possessed evidence that conflicted with it. We therefore know that someone such as these would not incur this warning if he engaged in such a marriage believing it lawful on these grounds. This does not prevent us from knowing that such a marriage constitutes grounds for this warning, even if the warning does not apply to certain individuals because a condition is absent or an impediment is present.
The same applies to Mu'āwiya’s acknowledgment—may Allah be pleased with him—of Ziyād ibn Abīhi, who was born to the bed of al-Hārith ibn Kilda, as belonging to his paternal lineage, because Abū Sufyān used to say that Ziyād had been conceived from his seed. Yet the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Whoever claims descent from someone other than his father, knowing that he is not his father, is forbidden Paradise.”
He also said:
“Whoever claims descent from someone other than his father, or takes patrons other than his own, incurs the curse of Allah, the angels, and all mankind. Allah will accept neither compensation nor ransom from him.”
This is an authentic hadith.
He also ruled that the child belongs to the man whose bed it is born to. This is among the rulings on which there is consensus. We therefore know that anyone who claims descent from someone other than the father whose bed he was born to falls within the scope of the Messenger’s words, peace and blessings be upon him. Nevertheless, it is not permissible to single out anyone of lesser standing than the Companions—let alone a Companion—and say that this warning applies to him. For it is possible that the Messenger of Allah’s ruling, peace and blessings be upon him, that the child belongs to the man whose bed it is born to had not reached them, and that they believed