Ruling on a child born as the result of a marriage that was not officially documented
Question

                What is the ruling on a child who was born as a result of an ‘urfi marriage that was not documented? The shar‘i (legal) marriage contract was done after the child was born. Is this son legitimate? Is it regarded as zina (adultery) or not?

If it is regarded as zina, what is the shar‘i ruling?.
Praise be to Allah.
	The term ‘urfi 
	marriage is used by people to refer to two types of marriage: 

	1.
	Where the marriage fulfils all the conditions and necessary 
	parts, the most important of which in this case are the agreement of the 
	woman’s guardian and having the marriage witnessed, but it is not documented 
	in the civil courts or it is not publicised among people. This is a valid 
	marriage although it is a mistake not to have it documented, and there is no 
	problem with attributing the child to his father in this kind of marriage.

	2.
	The second type is that to which people usually refer, which 
	is when the woman gets married in secret, without the approval of her 
	guardian. This is an invalid marriage and the partners must be separated.

	Shaykh Ibn Baaz 
	(may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: We hear about secret marriage, 
	‘urfi marriage, mut‘ah marriage and misyaar marriage. What is the shar‘i 
	ruling on these marriages? 

	He replied: None 
	of these types of marriage are permissible because they are contrary to 
	sharee‘ah. The type of marriage that is permitted in sharee‘ah is that which 
	is announced and which fulfils all the necessary parts of marriage and 
	conditions required by sharee‘ah.

	End quote from 
	Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 20/428 

	With regard to the 
	child, he is to be attributed to the father if the partners believed that 
	the marriage was valid, because this comes under the heading of intercourse 
	that took place within a dubious marriage contract. If they believed that it 
	was invalid, then the child is not to be attributed to the man; rather he is 
	to be attributed to his mother because in this case it is regarded as zina 
	(fornication or adultery). Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have 
	mercy on him) said: The Muslims are unanimously agreed that any marriage in 
	which the husband believes that it was a proper marriage, if he has 
	intercourse on the basis of this marriage, then the child is to be 
	attributed to him and they may inherit from one another according to Muslim 
	consensus. If a man marries a woman in an invalid marriage concerning which 
	there is consensus that it is invalid or that there is some dispute as to 
	its validity, the child born as a result is to be attributed to him and they 
	may inherit from one another according to Muslim consensus.

	End quote from 
	Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 34/13.  

	See also the 
	answer to questions no. 45663 and 
	45513 

	And Allah knows best.