What Does “The Child Is Your Slave” Mean in This Hadith?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
A man from the Ansar called Basra said: I married a virgin woman in her veil. When I entered her, I found her pregnant. (I mentioned this to the Prophet.) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: She will get the dower, for you made her vagina lawful for you. The child will be your slave. When she has begotten a child, flog her (according to the version of al-Hasan)
Isn’t this injustice and zulm on this child? What is a child’s fault that they become an enslaved person for no fault of their own?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
The phrase “the child is your slave” is not meant to be taken literally. As Imam Khattabi explains, it signifies that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) urged the man to nurture and support the child.
In this loving relationship, the child is likely to respond with gratitude, not as a slave, but as a devoted helper. It’s important to note that Islam views a child born to a free woman, even from zina, as free and not a slave.
Complete Hadith
A man from the Ansar called Basra said, I married a virgin woman in her veil. When I entered her, I found her pregnant. (I mentioned this to the Prophet.) The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: She will get the dower, for you made her vagina lawful for you. And the child is your slave. When she has begotten a child, flog her according to the version of Hasan. The version of Ibn Abu al-Sari has: You people, flog her, or said: inflict hard punishment on him. [Abu Dawud]
(And the child is your slave)”: Khattabi (Allah have mercy on him) said: It seems that the meaning, if the hadith is authentic, is that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) instructed him to care for the child, raise him, and adopt him for service, so that when the child grew up, he would serve him in obedience as if he were a servant, out of gratitude and repayment for his kindness. [Ibn Raslan, Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud]
Grading of the Report
Abu Dawud said: This report has been transmitted by Qatada from Sa‘d bin Yazid on the authority of Ibn al-Musayyab in a similar way. This hadith has been narrated by Yahya bin Abi Kathir from Yazid bin Nu‘aym from Sa‘id bin al-Musayyab, and ‘Ata al-Khurasani narrated it from Sa‘id bin al-Musayyab; they all narrated this hadith from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), as interrupted (mursal), i.e., omitting the link of the Companion.
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received a traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Presently, he lives in the UK with his wife and is interested in books and gardening.
