asalaam-alykum..., im worried & tenced & need some awnsers please,...my wife and me are married 6 years now...,we have 2 children, boy and girl,.. my wife had affair with my brothers son from past 3 years..., I had a doubt from 2 years but since it was a doubt i kept silent.., one day i cought them in my house when i came to say asr salat,..once this was in the open i realised that my daughter does not look like me,.. wen asked my wife she said the daughter is not mine but she is my brothers son,s child 2year old.... i have also done DNA check & the daughter has no signs of my genetics at all... when my doubt grew strong i too went out with another woman but with no strings attached...,now im attached to my daughter & cant seperate both son & daughter from each other..., i need to know if this marriage is valid after all this? can we both forgive each other & repent & ask Allah to forgive us? if i keep property on my daughters name will the real father of my daughter have any share or rights over her property that i put on my(his) daughters name? please let me know soon as possible,,, salaam

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

If the situation is as you mentioned in the question that your wife had established an illicit relationship with the son of your brother [your nephew], then she committed an evil act. By doing so, she disobeyed her Lord and neglected your rights as a husband, and your nephew also committed an evil act as it is expected from him to preserve your honour and not transgress it; therefore, both of them are obliged to repent to Allaah. You also committed a big sin by taking a girlfriend, so you are obliged to repent as well.

For more benefit on the conditions of repentance, please refer to Fataawa 87903 and 86527.

As regards the bond of marriage between both of you, then even if one or both spouses commit Zina (adultery), then this does not affect the continuity [or validity] of the marital bond. Therefore, if your wife repents and becomes righteous, then you should keep her, be kind to her and be keen on helping her learn about Islam and ‘Eemaan (faith). However, you are obliged to compel her to wear Hijab and to avoid non-Mahram men entering upon her. In general, such Zina (fornication or adultery) happens because of being too tolerant in this regard, especially the relatives entering upon non-Mahram women; for more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 119481 and 85321.

As regards this girl, she is born on your bed, so she is your daughter because the Prophet said: “The child is for the owner of the bed.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] However, if you are sure that she is not from you, then you are obliged to deny being her father by Li’aan (i.e. you and your wife invoke the curse of Allaah on the liar amongst you when you accuse her of having committed adultery), and if you do not do so, then she is traced back to you, as discussed in Fatwa 84301.

The fact that your wife claims that your daughter is not from you should not be taken into account, and the fact that the girl does not resemble you or that you carried out DNA tests should not be taken into account as well; this is in order to protect the rights of this daughter in family lineage. In this case, she is a sister for your children and you are obliged to spend on her, and you inherit her and she inherits you.

With regard to the fornicator (or adulterer), then the child is not traced back to him in principle, and he is not considered as the father of the girl. In case the family lineage is denied from the father by Li’aan, then the daughter is traced back to the mother and not to the fornicator.

Finally, you should know that it is not permissible for a father to favour one of his children over others in gifting them without a sound reason. Rather, he is obliged to be just between them in gifting them according to the preponderant opinion of the scholars .

Allaah Knows best.