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

Question

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.