What is the ruling regarding the paternity of a child born after a very short period following marriage, regardless of the time passed since the marriage contract?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Mutual Imprecation (Li'an)
Primary text
If a man marries a woman in a single sitting and then divorces her in that same sitting before he is absent from them, and she gives birth six months from the time of the contract, the lineage is not attributed to him. Similarly, if an Eastern man marries a Moroccan woman and she gives birth after six months, the lineage is not attributed to him. This is the view of Malik and Al-Shafi'i. The basis for this ruling is that the possibility of intercourse (Imkan al-Wat') did not occur within this marriage covenant, therefore the child is not attributed, similar to the case of a one-year-old's wife or a birth in less than six months. The possibility of intercourse must be established; if it is absent, certainty of non-paternity is established, precluding attribution.
Supporting text
Abu Hanifa argued that the lineage should be attributed because attribution relies on the contract and the duration of gestation. He posits that once the time frame allowing for conception has passed, the child is attributed even if actual intercourse is known not to have occurred. This is refuted by noting that when possibility is negated, certainty of non-paternity is established.