He answered:

Praise be to Allah. By agreement of the Muslims, the child is not attributed to him, nor does the full bridal due become binding upon him. However, the scholars hold two views concerning the marriage contract.

The sounder view is that the contract is invalid, as held by Mālik, Ahmad and others. Accordingly, the couple must be separated, and he owes neither the bridal due nor half of it, nor any compensatory gift, just as with other invalid marriage contracts when separation occurs before consummation. However, a judge who considers the contract invalid should pronounce their separation, so as to settle the dispute.

“The second view” is that the contract is valid, but he may not have intercourse with her until she gives birth, as held by Abū Hanīfah. It has also been said that he may have intercourse with her before she gives birth, as held by al-Shāfi‘ī. According to these two views, if he divorces her before consummation, he owes half the bridal due.

But this disagreement applies where she is pregnant through intercourse under a mistaken belief of lawfulness, or by a master or a husband; the marriage is invalid by agreement of the Muslims, and he owes no bridal due if he separates from her before consummation. As for a woman pregnant through fornication, there is no dispute concerning the validity of marrying her. The disagreement concerns a man who married her willingly. If, however, he was forced to marry her, the marriage is invalid according to the schools of al-Shāfi‘ī, Ahmad and others.

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

Concerning a man who is a “frequent traveller,” travelling through different lands and spending a month or two in each city, who practises withdrawal with her and fears falling into sin: may he marry during his stay