Can a man be permitted to marry his own biological daughter if she is borne to him out of wedlock according to the Quran?

 

Salam,

 

There is a blasphemous religious ruling in Islam that is taught and upheld by prominent Islamic scholars that reveals the approval of incest within its theology. In accordance with this teaching a man is permitted to marry his own biological daughter and consummate the marriage with her if she was conceived illegitimately. In other words, a man is permitted to marry his own biological daughter if she is born to him out of wedlock.

 

The foundation for this blasphemy is laid in the misrepresentation of the following verse:

It is He Who has created man from water: then has He established relationships of lineage and marriage: for thy Lord has power over all things. (Quran 25:54)

 

Al-Qurtubi in his Commentary (Tafsir) on Surah 25:54, he quotes Ibn Al-Arabi (1165 C.E.–1240 C.E.), the most influential author of Islamic history. He is also known to his supporters as al-Shaykh al-Akbar (The Greatest Master). Al-Qurtubi wrote:----------

 

“Lineage and relationship through marriage are two terms that describe the personal relationships that may exist between humans.” Ibn Al-Arabi said, “Lineage is an expression referring to the mixture of fluids between a male and a female from a religious legal point of view. However, if this union (between male and female) occurs through disobedience (fornication) then the resulting child is not considered a part of a person’s true lineage. That is why a daughter born from adultery is not mentioned in Allah’s saying, ‘Prohibited to you (for marriage) are: your mothers and daughters’ (Quran 4:23) because she is not considered a daughter according to the most authentic teaching of Sunni scholars. According to their interpretation if there is no legal lineage then there is no legal relationship; for adultery does not prohibit (from marriage) the daughter of the mother (you committed adultery with) nor the mother of a woman (you committed adultery with). What is lawfully prohibited is not also prohibited due to sin, for Allah has bestowed lineage and relation through marriage upon His servants and greatly esteemed these relationships. Allah has also established laws identifying what is legal and what is prohibited, which are not equal to each other; therefore falsehood cannot be a part of these laws.” (Tafseer Qurtubi, Qur'an 25 verse 54; Translated from Al-Azhar’s official website).

 

According to this opinion, a daughter born out of wedlock is not considered as the daughter of the man. Consequently, it becomes permissible for him to marry her. The above ruling clearly states that “the resulting child is not considered a part of a person’s true lineage.” As a result, the daughter is regarded the same as any other unrelated woman. As such, they claimed Islam does not prohibit the marriage between the father and his own biological daughter who is born through fornication or adultery.

 

And the above ruling also adds that, if there is no legal lineage then there is no legal relationship; for adultery does not prohibit from marriage the daughter of the mother you committed adultery with.” And to drive home the point, the ruling states, “What is lawfully prohibited is not also prohibited due to sin, for Allah has bestowed lineage and relation through marriage.” In others words, while the Quran prohibits marriages between a man and his daughter if she is conceived in marriage, it does not prohibit marriages between a father and his daughter if she is conceived out of wedlock.

 

How does having a daughter from an adulterous relationship make her sexually permissible for the father when she is in every sense his very own flesh and blood? No matter how she is conceived, she still remains his biological child and should be sexually off limits to him. This is a gross violation of the divine standard of morality. Just think, will the true God Allah permit incest intentionally?

 

According to those scholars Quran 4:23 speaks about the various types of marriage relationships that are forbidden in Islam. However, those scholars claimed that the list does not include the incestuous marriage between a father and his illegitimate daughter. Many of them acknowledge the permission of this incestuous marriage in the Qur’an. Al-Qurtubi confirms this point in his Commentary on Qur'an 4:23: “The scholars have differed on the issue of prohibition of sexual intercourse with someone born out of adultery. The majority of knowledgeable scholars have said that if a man commits adultery with a woman, that act does not prohibit him from marrying her. Likewise, a man’s wife is not prohibited from him if he commits adultery with her mother or her daughter. It is sufficient for him to receive the punitive judgment (based on sharia), and then he may have intercourse with his wife. If any man commits adultery with a woman then desired to marry her mother or her daughter, they are not prohibited from him because of this act.”

 

However It was reported by Malik that adultery prohibits (a man’s relationship with both) the mother and the daughter and this act (of adultery) has the same prohibitions that a legal marriage has. However, the (only) correct portion of Malik’s saying is that adultery produces no regulations. For Allah, exalted and glorified, said in Surah 4:23, “Your wives’ mothers,” but did not say, “He who committed adultery with his wives’ mothers, nor his daughter whom he conceived through adultery.” This is the saying of Al-Shafi’i and Abu Thuri…” Abdul Malik Ibn Al-Maj-shun said such a marriage (between a man and the daughter he conceived through adultery) is permissible; which they claimed is the correct understanding of Allah’s saying in Surah 25:54, “It is He Who has created man from water: then has He established relationships of lineage and marriage,” referring to an approved legal marriage. This is referred to the previous note on “Tafsiral-Qurtubi, Translated from the official website of Saudi Arabia, Ministry of Islamic Affairs).

 

The above “Tafsir” clearly states that “a marriage between a man and the daughter he conceived through adultery is permissible; by interpreting of Allah’s saying in Quran 25:54.” The reason for such strong support by these scholars for a practice that is morally and ethically wrong is primarily because of the Qur’an’s insistence that lineage and relationship are only recognized through “legal marriage.”

 

Note again the commentary by al-Qurtubi on Surah 4:23: For Allah, exalted and glorified, said in Quran 4:23, “Your wives’ mothers,” But did not say, “He who committed adultery with his wives’ mothers, nor his daughter whom he conceived through adultery.”

 

Thus, it can be noted that in this instance, incest between a father and daughter is sanctioned by them and this tarnished Islam for two reasons. They claimed firstly, it is because Allah does not recognize the lineage of the daughter who is born out of wedlock. Secondly, it is because Allah did not forbid this form of incestuous marriage in the Qur’an. As a result, a man’s daughter becomes permissible to him if he is not married to her mother at the time of her conception. Another renowned scholar also confirms this judicial ruling in Islam. Al-Fiqh Ala al Madahib al Arba’a by Sheikh Abdurehman Jazri, Volume 4, page 40: “It is permissible for a man to marry his daughter who is born through adultery.” “The one (girl) who is born through adultery does not become “mahram” (to her father) as the Shafiee say, because she is not considered as daughter since there is no inheritance between them.” In the legal terminology of Islamic sharia, “mahram” is an unmarriageable kin with whom sexual intercourse would be considered incestuous. However, since a daughter born from adultery is not a daughter in Islam, she “does not become mahram (forbidden) to her father.” As such, the father can marry her. Hence, the unacceptable practice of incest becomes acceptable for them in this instance. The forbidden becomes permissible

 

The great majority of Sunni scholars have enacted laws based on the Qur’an, which they think allow a man to marry his very own daughter if she is born out of wedlock – even when he is fully aware that she is his own flesh and blood. In other words he can knowingly marry his daughter because to them Islam “does not prohibit from marriage the daughter of the mother you committed adultery with.” Thus it permits a man’s illegitimate daughter to become his legitimate wife.

 

Look carefully at the wordings in this blasphemous ruling. It says, “It is permissible for a man to marry his daughter who is born through adultery.” It recognizes the fact that she is “his daughter” and yet permits the incestuous marriage between a father and his daughter. Can any sane person accept this insanity? Any human being with even a minuscule trace of decency will understand that although adultery is wrong, it does not change the fact that the child is still his biological daughter. If a man is not even supposed to marry his step-daughter, how much so if she happens to be his very own flesh and blood?

 

The depth of this immoral law is immense. To say it is shocking is an understatement.

Granted, a man and a woman sinned by committing adultery. However, to make the daughter of this union permissible for the father to marry is disgustingly sinful. This act of sin permitted by those scholars goes against the very order of nature. When those scholars say that the child “is not considered a daughter,” it is punishing the child for the sins of the parents. The fact that most fathers under such circumstances will not live by this ruling shows that even adulterers have a better moral standard than those blasphemous scholars. One might sin in a moment of weakness but their sins are deliberate and grossly wicked. This proves their “fatwa” is satanic in nature not only by sanctioning incest but by also punishing the innocent.

 

The evidences in the Quran is clear against their “Fatwa” and “Tafsir” of those unscrupulous scholars as Quran 4:23 forbids a person to marry his own daughter as stated:-“Prohibited to you (For marriage) are:- Your mothers, daughters, sisters;……and more important the verse says “born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;” Whether they are legally married or not the daughter is still from both their semen.

 

And it is also clearly stated in the Quran if the father is guilty of fornication he is not only being forbidden to marry his out of wedlock daughter but also he is forbidden to marry  any other believing woman. The Quran strictly limit his partner to be of the sinner adulteress like him or a pagan woman. To the believers marrying such person is forbidden as stated:----------

 

Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry and but a woman similarly guilty, or a pagan: nor let any but such a man or an Unbeliever marry such a woman: to the Believers such a thing is forbidden.(Quran 24:3)

ASAR