My son had a daughter by an Italian girl without being married which I learned later. Can he marry her in an Islamic way and ask Allah to forgive him? Or, should I sever ties and forget that I have a son?

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

Dear Brother, the situation you described about your son is a very serious matter and we must advice you of several approaches to help you and him. First, it is preferable for you to demand that your son makes sincere repentance for the great sin that he has committed, which is Zina (fornication or adultery) with this girl. Bring to his attention the enormity of Zina and the very bad consequences of it. So, he should first turn to Allah and engross himself in seeking His Forgiveness. In this situation, you should force him, as much as you are able, to give up his relation with this adulteress girl. Also, you are not permitted to help him marry her. If she is either a polytheist or atheist (not believing in any religion), marrying such a woman is not permissible. If she is Jewish or Christian (i.e. from the People of the Book), then marriage to her is permissible if she is chaste; i.e. had never practiced illicit sex. In this case, she is not so, thus marrying her is not permissible.

However, marriage to an unchaste woman (Muslim or of The People of the Book) is permissible if she makes sincere repentance.

Second, if you have done all that you can do as described above, and you suspect that he is so fond of her that he will continue practicing Zina with her, if she is Jewish or Christian, then we advise you to help him marry her. Marriage to a woman who once committed Zina is better than continuing in illicit relations. If they should marry, you should encourage them to be chaste and call her to Islam with gentleness and wisdom. Note that the daughter born from Zina does not have any relation to your son (i.e. she should be traced back to her mother).

For more benefit on travelling to or living in non-Muslim countries, please refer to Fataawa 86405, 377986, 369667, 89879, 81642, 88291 and 81464.

Allah knows best.