A husband may not disown a child except by Li'aan

1-2-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

I am a married woman, who came home to FL to see her parents. I told my husband I am pregnant but he is accusing me of lying and saying that it is not his child. Islamicaly is my husband allowed to make such false accussations on me and accuse me and family of plotting against him? I have no idea what is wrong with him but I came to find out he has another wife aswell whom he kept a secret from me. I feel like she is brainwashing him against me and is trying to get him to divorce me. I even showed him the medical results stating I am preganant but he keeps claiming it as a fraud or scam. Is divorce valid while a woman is preganant?
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

In principle, a Muslim is innocent and it is not permissible to accuse him of anything sinister without evidence. The sin of making unfounded accusations is even more emphasized if it is between the husband and wife, so it is not permissible for your husband to accuse you of lying to him. Please refer to Fatwa 87877.

Also, he is not permitted to declare that the child is not his, and the child is attributed to him in Islam. It is only through Li’aan that he can declare disownership of it. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 90098.

Also, he has no right to accuse you and your family of plotting against him without evidence. On the other hand, if your assumption that his other wife brainwashed him and is trying to push him to divorce you is not based on solid evidence, then it is a negative assumption which Islam forbids; Allaah Almighty says (what means): {O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin...} [Quran 49:12]

Divorcing a pregnant woman is valid in Sunnah. So, if a husband divorces his wife while she is pregnant, the divorce is effectuated. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 82929.

However, keep in mind that a wife is not entitled to ask her husband for divorce except for a sound reason, and him marrying another wife is not a sound reason. For more benefit on the sound reasons for asking for divorce, please refer to Fatwa 131953.

Allah Knows best.

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