Is a child born less than six months after the end of the Iddah calculated by menstrual cycles attributed to the former husband?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Mutual Imprecation (Li'an)
Primary text
If a man divorces his wife, she completes her Iddah based on menstrual cycles (aqra'), and then delivers a child less than six months after the end of her final cycle, the child is attributed to him. This is because it is certain that she did not conceive him after her Iddah ended. It is known that she was pregnant during the time she experienced the bleeding, meaning that blood could not have been true menstruation, thus her Iddah was not completed by it.
Supporting text
A differing view among the companions of Al-Shafi'i holds that the child is attributed to him because it is possible for the child to be his, and the child is attributed based on possibility. However, the primary view maintains that since she delivered after the ruling that her Iddah had concluded, at a time when conception by him is not certain, paternity is not established unless by li'an, unlike the establishment of paternity based on mere possibility while marriage or Iddah remains valid.