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Religion plays a significant role in how we raise our children, and in the Islamic faith a child's identity and status within the family can be affected by whether he/she was born in or out of wedlock.
Note: In Islam zina refers to premarital sex, the Quran is the Muslims' holy book, shariah refers to Islamic law and Allah is the Creator.
Muslims and premarital sex
According to the Quraan Allah says, "Do not go near adultery, surely it is an indecency, and an evil way [of fulfilling sexual urge]."
Al-Islam states that countries where shariah governs the law of the land, premarital sex is considered an immoral and sinful act that is punishable by an Islamic court.
Children born out of wedlock
Although a child born from premarital sex is innocent of the parents' crime, he/she will still suffer certain restrictions.
According to shariah law, the following applies to a child born of zina:
- The child will be called and recognised by the name of his/her mother.
- In terms of inheritance, the child will legally inherit only from the mother.
- The child will not be a legal heir of his/her biological father and thus he/she will not be entitled to inherit from the father.
- The child and the father will have no legal obligation towards each other.
For more on sex and relationships visit our sex centre or ask our sexologist. For more on parenting visit our parenting centre.
Read more:
Are oral sex and foreplay allowed in Islam?
Sex during your period
Tips for single parents
Sources: This article was originally compiled and published by Modest Muse.
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**Health24 is not affiliated with any particular Islamic school of thought or biased towards any Islamic scholar.
