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Fatwa CenterPrecautions and rulings in tracing back a child to its father in case of fornication
Question
My question is I was raped in side my house I was too scared to tell my husband .The offender blackmailed and threatened to harm my family if I don’t do as he says. He introduced me to his wife and his kids we were good friends we spent a lot time together . My husband tried to stop this but I can with many excuses hoping allah will make a miracle and this will stop. I have a one month baby from the offender and my husband is aware but says if every one repents allah is merciful. He said no one should know about this even the child it will effect my kids and his kids. His wife doesn’t know about this we need to conceal it. The problem is the offender calls every day checking about his child. My husband told him this is harram the child will carry my surname and the offender should look after his family and forget he has a child. The offender wants to look after his child and wants me to leave my family or wants to call my house every day and wants to see his child once a week. Please help
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The Sharee’ah (Islamic legislation) favors taking precautions in the issue of tracing back a child to its father, so it traces the child back to the husband on whose bed it was born, as we clarified in Fatwa 132410. Therefore, this child is Islamically traced back to your husband and in principle he (this child) has no relation with the fornicator. Thus, the fornicator has no right in what you mentioned, which is in regard to taking care of him or seeing him and the like. Indeed, you are obliged to break any relationship with him, as he is a non-Mahram (marriageable) to you, so you should not let him speak with you and you should not respond to his request to leave your family.
On the other hand, your husband should be firm in dealing with that man and not address him with terms which suggest some weakness; this may be the reason why he dares to treat you in that way. In addition to this, your husband appears to be a cuckold and this is a dispraised and hated matter in the sight of Allaah The Almighty. The Prophet 
said: "There are three kinds of people who will not enter Paradise: a person who is addicted to intoxicants, a person who cuts ties with his parents, and the cuckold who approves vicious acts done by his wife." [Ahmad] Al-Misbaah Al-Muneer reads, “A cuckold is a man who does not have any jealousy about his wife.” Furthermore, the Encyclopedia of Fiqh reads, “The word cuckold is defined with close terms which have the same meaning that is not different than the literary meaning, which is not being jealous about one’s wife and one’s female relatives.”
To conclude, both you and your husband are very lenient in dealing with that man –as we understood from the question – so, if this is the case, this is what induced him to deal with you in that manner and consider both of you puppets in his hands. Giving excuses of being threatened and the like is not an acceptable reason. What prevents your husband from threatening to take this matter to the authorities so that they would deter him and prevent him from what he is doing?
We hope that it is not the fact of being lenient that led that man to rape you. In general, such rape does not happen except with the occurrence of some reasons that lead to it, like being in forbidden seclusion with that man and mixing with him, so you are obliged to repent from what you did and not do this again in the future.
Allaah Knows best.
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