What is the ruling if the lineage estimator attributes the child to one person when two women claim lineage?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Foundlings
Primary text
If the lineage estimator (Qafif) attributes the child to one person when two women claim paternity, the attribution does not stand for both women, and the statement of the Qafif is invalidated. This is because the simultaneous parentage by both women is certainly known to be false, invalidating the estimator's judgment in this definite scenario.
Supporting text
The scholars of the Hanafi school (Ahl al-Ra'y) hold that the child is attributed to both women merely upon their joint claim, as the mother is one of the two parents, and thus attribution to two is permissible, similar to attributing a child to two fathers. Our rebuttal is that the simultaneous parentage by both women is demonstrably impossible. Therefore, a ruling based on it is impermissible, just as if the child were older than or the same age as both claimants. This situation differs from the case of two fathers, where the possibility of their seed combining in the womb exists, allowing for the creation of a child from both, much like a child is created from the seed of a man and a woman. Thus, when the Qafif stated to Umar that the lineage was shared between two men, this was permissible because attribution to those who could possibly be parents is allowed. However, this does not necessitate attribution to those from whom parentage is impossible, just as attribution to someone born at a later time does not necessitate attribution to someone younger.