Jump to content

Denial of Paternity (Nafy al-Walad)

Add links
Priority: c, Quality: c
Without redirects
Without references
From wikishia
Furu' al-Din
Religious rulings
هیچ
Prayer
Other Worships
Rullings of Tahara
Civil Law
Family Law
Criminal Law
Economic Laws
Contracts
Prohibitions
Related Laws
Other Laws


Denial of paternity or Nafy al-walad (Arabic: نَفي الوَلَد), is one of the methods used to repudiate the attribution of a child to a father. By employing this method, a man can deny a child whom religious and civil law have attributed to him.

If the Rule of Firash (the presumption of paternity between husband and wife) applies between the spouses, the only permissible method of denial is Li'an (mutual cursing), and the man must be certain that the child is not his; he may not perform liʿān while in doubt. However, if the Rule of Firash does not apply, denial of paternity without Li'an is permissible, and according to some jurists, obligatory. According to jurists, medical evidence (such as genetic testing) can be relied upon and replace Li'an only if it brings certainty.

If a man acknowledges the child as his own before Li'an, he can no longer deny the paternity. Likewise, if he acknowledges the child after li'an, the sole legal effect of that acknowledgment is that the child inherits from the father; the father and his relatives do not inherit from the child.

Denial of Paternity and Its Only Shari'a Method

Denial of paternity (meaning denial of the child) in jurisprudence and law is a mechanism that allows a man to deny a child who has been religiously and legally attributed to him.[1] According to jurists, if the conditions of the Rule of Firash[2] are fully met, the only method of denying the child is Li'an.[3] A man can only do this when he is certain that the child is not his, and doubt is not sufficient for performing Li'an,[4] even if the woman has committed adultery.[5]

If one of the conditions of the Rule of Firash is not met in the relationship between husband and wife, jurists have considered denial of paternity permissible without Li'an, such as when it is proven that the man is incapable of impregnating.[6] Some consider denial of paternity obligatory in this case,[7] and others consider the man to have the choice between accepting or denying the child.[8] Also, jurists consider Li'an necessary only if the relationship between the man and woman is formed by permanent marriage, but in Temporary Marriage, denial of paternity can also take place without Li'an.[9]

Lawyers divide denial of paternity into two categories based on the presence or absence of the Rule of Firash: 1. General denial of paternity (in cases where the Rule of Firash does not apply); in such a case, the lawsuit for denial of paternity is filed without special formalities, and the father-child relationship is severed. The court's ruling is final, and the father can no longer acknowledge the lineage afterwards.[10] 2. Special denial of paternity (in cases where the Rule of Firash applies).

Impossibility of Denial of Paternity after Acknowledging the Child

Shi'a jurists agree[11] that if a man acknowledges a child as his own, he can no longer deny it; even with Li'an, his paternity is not removed.[12] The same ruling is found in Sunni sources.[13] Narrations,[14] Consensus,[15] and the Rule of Acknowledgment[16] are cited for this ruling. Al-Allama al-Hilli[17] and al-Shahid al-Awwal,[18] Shi'a jurists of the 8th/14th century have stated that if a father denies the child after acknowledgment, the Hadd punishment will be executed on him.

Acknowledging the Child After Performing Li'an

If the father, after performing Li'an, acknowledges that the person is his child, this acknowledgment will not affect proving lineage, because with the performance of Li'an, the lineage relationship is religiously severed, and acknowledgment cannot prove a lineage that the Shari'a has rejected.[19] However, this acknowledgment causes the child to inherit from the father, but the father and his relatives do not inherit from the child.[20] In explaining this issue, it is said that such an acknowledgment only proves what is against the man (the child inheriting from him), not what is in his favor (him inheriting from the child).[21]

Denial of Paternity with Medical Evidence Without Li'an

According to religious authorities, only if medical evidence (such as genetic testing) is definitive and brings certainty, can the father-child relationship be denied based on it without Li'an.[22] According to some jurists, when the correctness or incorrectness of lineage can be determined by scientific reasons, there is no need for Li'an anymore, because the Rule of Firash is for when the reality of lineage is unknown.[23] Opponents of this view believe that, considering the consequences of denial of paternity (such as discord in the family system), the Lawgiver has designed the conditions of Li'an in such a way that denial of paternity is not done except in cases of emergency; therefore, prioritizing genetic testing over Li'an is not compatible with the Lawgiver's approach.[24]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ṣafāʾī & Imāmī, Mukhtaṣar-i ḥuqūq-i khāniwāda, p. 291.
  2. ↑ The rule of firāsh is a jurisprudential principle derived from the Prophetic hadith, "al-Waladu lil-firāsh wa lil-ʿāhir al-ḥajar" (The child is attributed to the husband, and the adulterer has no claim to paternity), and it is applied in matters of lineage (nasab). According to this rule, in cases of doubt concerning a child’s parentage—such as the possibility of adultery or the persistence of semen from a previous husband—the child is legally attributed to the lawful husband.
  3. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 5, p. 185; Shahīd al-Thānī, Al-Rawḍa al-bahiyya, vol. 6, p. 381; Anṣārī, Kitāb al-nikāḥ, p. 489; Imam Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 2, p. 308; Murwārīd, Silsilat al-yanābīʿ al-fiqhiyya, vol. 19, p. 462, 658.
  4. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 31, p. 221-223; Shahīd al-Thānī, Masālik al-afhām, vol. 8, p. 381.
  5. ↑ Baḥrānī, Al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, 1363 Sh, vol. 25, p. 13; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 31, p. 232; Imam Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, 1392 Sh, vol. 2, p. 308.
  6. ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 5, p. 185; Bayhaqī Nīshābūrī Kaydarī, Iṣbāḥ al-Shīʿa, 1374 Sh, p. 461; Shahīd al-Thānī, Masālik al-afhām, vol. 10, p. 189.
  7. ↑ Shahīd al-Thānī, Masālik al-afhām, vol. 8, p. 377-378; Murwārīd, Silsilat al-yanābīʿ al-fiqhiyya, vol. 19, p. 514; Imam Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, 1392 Sh, vol. 2, p. 308.
  8. ↑ Shaykh al-Mufīd, Al-Muqniʿa, p. 537; Ṭūsī, al-Nihāya, p. 505; Baḥrānī, Al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, 1363 Sh, vol. 25, p. 12; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 31, p. 224.
  9. ↑ Imam Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, 1392 Sh, vol. 2, p. 292.
  10. ↑ Kātūziyān, Ḥuqūq-i madanī, 1378 Sh, vol. 2, p. 94; Muʿāwinat-i Qūwwa-yi Qaḍāʾiyya, Raviyya-yi qaḍāyī-yi Īrān, 1387 Sh, vol. 5, p. 21.
  11. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī Ḥāʾirī, Riyāḍ al-masāʾil, vol. 2, p. 156.
  12. ↑ See: Ibn Saʿīd, al-Jāmiʿ lil-sharāʾiʿ, p. 343; Fāḍil Lankaranī, Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa, p. 345; Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn, Īḍāḥ al-fawāʾid, vol. 3, p. 260.
  13. ↑ See: Ghazālī, al-ʿAzīz sharḥ al-wajīz, vol. 9, p. 414; Abū Isḥāq Shīrāzī, al-Muhadhdhab, vol. 3, p. 384; Sarakhsī, al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 17, p. 98; Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-muḥtār, vol. 8, p. 345 & vol. 12, p. 102.
  14. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī Ḥāʾirī, Riyāḍ al-masāʾil, vol. 2, p. 156.
  15. ↑ ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Qawāʿid al-aḥkām, vol. 3, p. 185; Fāḍil Hindī, Kashf al-lithām, vol. 8, p. 300.
  16. ↑ Mūsawī Bujnūrdī, Al-Qawāʿid al-fiqhiyya, 1377 Sh, vol. 3, p. 51.
  17. ↑ ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Irshād al-adhhān, vol. 2, p. 60.
  18. ↑ Shahīd al-Awwal, Ghāyat al-murād, vol. 3, p. 300.
  19. ↑ Zayn al-Dīn, Kalimat al-taqwā, vol. 5, p. 414.
  20. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Nihāya, p. 521; Muḥaqqiq Ḥillī, Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, vol. 3, p. 100; Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn, Īḍāḥ al-fawāʾid, vol. 3, p. 452; Sabzawārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, vol. 26, p. 264.
  21. ↑ Imam Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 2, p. 345.
  22. ↑ Kalāntarī, "Taḥlīl-i ʿilmī az yak parvanda-yi kayfarī", p. 311.
  23. ↑ Muḥsinī, al-Fiqh wa masāʾil ṭibbiyya, vol. 2, p. 236.
  24. ↑ Pīla et al., "Barrasī-yi ḥujjiyyat-i āzmāyish-i DNA dar nafy-i nasab", p. 149.

References

  • Abū Isḥāq Shīrāzī, Ibrāhīm b. ʿAlī. Al-Muhadhdhab fī fiqh al-Imām al-Shāfiʿī. Edited by Muḥammad Zuḥaylī. Damascus, Al-Dār al-Shāmiyya, 1417 AH.
  • ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Ḥasan b. Yūsuf. Irshād al-adhhān ilā aḥkām al-īmān. Qom, Nashr Jamāʿat al-Mudarrisīn fī al-Ḥawza al-ʿIlmiyya bi-Qum/Muʾassasat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1410 AH.
  • ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Ḥasan b. Yūsuf. Qawāʿid al-aḥkām fī maʿrifat al-ḥalāl wa l-ḥarām. Qom, Jamāʿat al-Mudarrisīn fī al-Ḥawza al-ʿIlmiyya bi-Qum/Muʾassasat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1413 AH.
  • Anṣārī, Murtaḍā. Kitāb al-nikāḥ. Qom, Al-Muʾtamar al-ʿĀlamī bi-Munāsabat al-Dhikrā al-Maʾawiyya al-Thāniya li-Mīlād al-Shaykh al-Aʿẓam al-Anṣārī, 1415 AH.
  • Baḥrānī, Yūsuf b. Aḥmad. Al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira fī aḥkām al-ʿitra al-ṭāhira. Edited by Muḥammad Taqī Īravānī. Qom, Jamāʿat al-Mudarrisīn fī al-Ḥawza al-ʿIlmiyya bi-Qum/Muʾassasat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1363 Sh.
  • Bayhaqī Nīshābūrī Kaydarī, Muḥammad b. Ḥusayn. Iṣbāḥ al-Shīʿa bi-miṣbāḥ al-sharīʿa. Edited by Ibrāhīm Bahādurī. Qom, Muʾassasat al-Imām al-Ṣādiq (a), 1374 Sh.
  • Fāḍil Hindī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Kashf al-lithām ʿan qawāʿid al-aḥkām. Qom, Muʾassasa-yi Nashr-i Islāmī, 1416 AH.
  • Fāḍil Lankaranī, Muḥammad. Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa fī sharḥ Taḥrīr al-wasīla (Kitāb al-ṭalāq wa al-mawārīth). Qom, Markaz-i Fiqh-i Aʾimma-yi Aṭhār (a), 1409 AH.
  • Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Īḍāḥ al-fawāʾid fī sharḥ mushkilāt al-Qawāʿid. Edited by Sayyid Ḥusayn Mūsawī Kirmānī. Qom, Nashr-i Ismāʿīliyān, 1387 AH.
  • Ghazālī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad. Al-ʿAzīz sharḥ al-wajīz al-maʿrūf bi-l-sharḥ al-kabīr. Commentator: ʿAbd al-Karīm b. Muḥammad Rāfiʿī Qazwīnī. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1417 AH.
  • Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Muḥammad Amīn. Radd al-muḥtār ʿalā al-Durr al-mukhtār sharḥ Tanwīr al-abṣār. Edited by ʿĀdil Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Mawjūd. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1406 AH.
  • Ibn Saʿīd, Yaḥyā b. Aḥmad. Al-Jāmiʿ lil-sharāʾiʿ. Under supervision of Jaʿfar Subḥānī Tabrīzī. Qom, Muʾassasa-yi Sayyid al-Shuhadā (a), 1405 AH.
  • Imam Khomeini, Sayyid Rūḥullāh. Taḥrīr al-wasīla. Tehran, Muʾassasa-yi Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khumaynī, 1392 Sh.
  • Imāmī, Sayyid Ḥasan. Ḥuqūq-i madanī. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Islāmiyya, 1378 Sh.
  • Kalāntarī, Kiyūmarth. "Taḥlīl-i ʿilmī az yak parvanda-yi kayfarī (zinā-yi muḥṣana wa ithbāt-i ān)". Tehran, Markaz-i Chāp wa Intishārāt-i ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī. Vol. 11, no. 26, Tīr 1388 Sh.
  • Kātūziyān, Nāṣir. Ḥuqūq-i madanī (Khāniwāda). Tehran, Intishārāt-i Bahman Bornā, 1378 Sh.
  • Muʿāwinat-i Āmūzishī-yi Qūwwa-yi Qaḍāʾiyya. Raviyya-yi qaḍāyī-yi Īrān dar irtibāṭ bā dādgāh-hā-yi khāniwāda. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Jangal, 1st ed, 1387 Sh.
  • Muḥaqqiq Ḥillī, Jaʿfar b. Ḥasan. Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām fī masāʾil al-ḥalāl wa l-ḥarām. Qom, Muʾassasa-yi Ismāʿīliyān, 2nd ed, 1408 AH.
  • Muḥsinī, Muḥammad Āṣif. Al-Fiqh wa masāʾil ṭibbiyya. Qom, Intishārāt-i Daftar-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī-yi Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmiyya-yi Qum, 1st ed, 1426 AH.
  • Murwārīd, ʿAlī Aṣghar. Silsilat al-yanābīʿ al-fiqhiyya. Beirut, Nashr al-Dār al-Islāmiyya, 1413 AH.
  • Mūsawī Bujnūrdī, Sayyid Ḥasan. Al-Qawāʿid al-fiqhiyya. Edited by Muḥammad Ḥusayn Dirāyatī & Mahdī Mihrīzī. Qom, Nashr al-Hādī, 1377 Sh.
  • Najafī, Muḥammad Ḥasan. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Edited by ʿAbbās Qūchānī & ʿAlī Ākhūndī. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 7th ed, 1404 AH.
  • Pīla, Aʿẓam, Sayyid ʿAlī ʿAlavī Qazvīnī, & ʿAlī Raḍīʾī. "Barrasī-yi ḥujjiyyat-i āzmāyish-i DNA dar nafy-i nasab". Tehran, Majalla-yi Ḥuqūq-i Khuṣūṣī (Dānishgāh-i Tihrān). No. 22, Spring & Summer 1392 Sh.
  • Sabzawārī, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Aʿlā. Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām fī bayān al-ḥalāl wa l-ḥarām. Qom, Muʾassasat al-Manār, 1413 AH.
  • Ṣafāʾī, Sayyid Ḥusayn & Asadullāh Imāmī. Mukhtaṣar-i ḥuqūq-i khāniwāda. Tehran, Nashr-i Mīzān, 9th ed, 1384 Sh.
  • Sarakhsī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Kitāb al-Mabsūṭ. Edited by Muḥammad Ḥasan Muḥammad Ḥasan Ismāʿīl. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1421 AH.
  • Shahīd al-Awwal, Muḥammad b. Makkī. Ghāyat al-murād fī sharḥ nukat al-irshād. Edited by Riḍā Mukhtārī. Qom, Intishārāt-i Daftar-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī-yi Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmiyya-yi Qum, 1414 AH.
  • Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn b. ʿAlī. Al-Rawḍa al-bahiyya fī sharḥ al-lumʿa al-Dimashqiyya. Commentator: Ḥasan b. Muḥammad Sulṭān al-ʿUlamāʾ. Qom, Intishārāt-i Daftar-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī-yi Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmiyya-yi Qum, 1st ed, 1412 AH.
  • Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn b. ʿAlī. Masālik al-afhām ilā tanqīḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Qom, Muʾassasat al-Maʿārif al-Islāmiyya, 1419 AH.
  • Shaykh al-Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad. Al-Muqniʿa. Qom, Kungira-yi Jahānī-yi Hazāra-yi Shaykh Mufīd, 1st ed, 1413 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī Ḥāʾirī, Sayyid ʿAlī. Riyāḍ al-masāʾil fī taḥqīq al-aḥkām bi-l-dalāʾil. Qom, Āl al-Bayt, 1st ed, 1418 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Al-Mabsūṭ fī fiqh al-Imāmiyya. Edited by Sayyid Muḥammad Taqī Kashfī. Tehran, Al-Maktaba al-Murtaḍawiyya, 3rd ed, 1387 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Al-Nihāya fī mujarrad al-fiqh wa al-fatāwā. Beirut, Intishārāt Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1400 AH.
  • Zayn al-Dīn, Muḥammad Amīn. Kalimat al-taqwā. Qom, Nashr-i Ismāʿīliyān, 1413 AH.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikishia.net/w/index.php?title=Denial_of_Paternity_(Nafy_al-Walad)&oldid=200299"