The Principle of the Authenticity of Linking a Child to Lawful Sexual Intercourse

One of the most important and widely used principles in the discussion of lineage is the principle of linking a child to lawful sexual intercourse (waṭī al-muḥtaram). This principle, which applies in the case of doubt, is mentioned for the first time in the words of the author of the book Jawāhir al-Kalām. Although it has been claimed that this principle was one of the initiatives of the author of Jawāhir al-Kalām and does not have a precedent in the words of jurists, its roots can be seen in the words of the jurists before him and in their discussions such as having sexual intercourse with a usurped slave-girl, breastfeeding (riḍāʾ) and inheritance. The implications ‎of this principle are that, if there is any doubt between giving birth to a child due to lawful sex intercourse, including a woman having sexual intercourse with her husband or misapprehended sex intercourse (waṭī bi al-shubhāʾ), according to sharīʿah the child belongs to a person whose sexual intercourse is lawful and all the legal effects such as inheritance are applied to such a person. While describing the differences between this principle and the principle of al-farāsh, this study presents evidence for the authenticity of this principle such as the connection between lawful sex intercourse and linking the child to it, the principle of validity (iṣālat al-ṣiḥah), reference to the narrations, and the attention of the sharīʿah. After criticizing most of that evidence, the only evidence that seems to be valid from the viewpoint of the writer is the attention of the sharīʿah, and assuming its validity, the minor premise of this issue is proved by induction.