to a child, its paternity is attributed to the man who performed tahlīl, for he had intercourse with her within an invalid marriage. The child is not attributed to the first husband by virtue of their earlier marriage, because its waiting period had ended and she subsequently married another man who had intercourse with her. This ends the legal effect of the former marital bed, without disagreement among the imams. Nor is the child attributed to the first husband on account of his adulterous intercourse, for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The child belongs to the marital bed, and the adulterer has no claim.”

However, if the man who performed tahlīl knows that the child is not his but is instead the child of this adulterer, he must disavow paternity through liʿān (the prescribed mutual oaths). He must exchange these oaths with her, thereby severing the child’s paternal lineage. The child’s lineage is traced to its mother, not to the adulterer.

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

Is the arrangement involving a male slave valid or not?

He replied:

Praise be to Allah. A divorced woman’s marriage to a male slave who has intercourse with her, after which she becomes lawful for her former husband, is one form of tahlīl. It is authentically established that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“May Allah curse the man who performs tahlīl and the man for whose benefit it is performed.”

He was also asked:

A man broke an oath concerning his wife, and she then married another man so that he would make her lawful again for the first husband. Is this marriage valid or not?