Punishment of the Adulterer for the Murder of His Illegitimate Child in Imami and Sunni Fiqh (A Comparative Study)

Abstract

One of the conditions for Qisās, according to the majority of Imami and Sunni jurists, is the absence of a father-child relationship between the killer and the killed. This means that if a father commits the murder of his child, he will not be subject to Qisās. It is maintained that if the child born is the result of an illegitimate relationship between a Muslim man and a Muslim woman, the Shariah discredits the father-child relationship. Due to the lack of such relationship, it is then a bone of contention whether the adulterer who intentionally kills his illegitimate child shall be punished by Qisās. Recruiting a descriptive-analytical design, the researchers have examined Shariah texts as well as the expert opinions of the jurists and found that the adulterer can apparently be exempted from a Qisās even in the absence of the legitimate father-child relationship. It is due to the fact that the Shariah has not exclusively stipulated the legitimacy/illegitimacy condition of the child birth upon deciding on the Qisās issue. It is also more consistent with the principle of caution in Islam.

Keywords

• murder
• adultery
• qisas
• natural child
• illegitimate child