Section: If he separates from his wife, then accuses her of adultery, attributing it to the time of marriage, it is like the previous case. If there is a child between them whom he wishes to negate, he may negate him through li'an; otherwise, he is punished and does not perform li'an. This is the view of Malik and Al-Shafi'i. Abu Hanifa said: He is punished, the child is attributed to him, and he does not perform li'an. This is also the view of 'Ata'. The basis for both schools of thought is what was mentioned in the previous section. 'Uthman al-Batti said: He may perform li'an even if there is no child between them. It is reported from Ibn 'Abbas and Al-Hasan that he performs li'an because it is an accusation attributed to the time of marriage, resembling the case if she were still his wife. Our evidence is that when there is a child between them, there is a need for the accusation, so it is legislated, just as if he accused her while she was his wife. When he has no child, there is no need for it, and he has accused her while she is a foreign woman (48), so it resembles the case where he does not attribute it to the time of marriage. When he performs li'an to negate her child, it is negated, and the punishment is dropped from him. There are two opinions regarding the establishment of permanent prohibition. Does he have the right to perform li'an before the child is delivered? There are two opinions: one is that he does, because whoever is permitted to perform li'an after delivery is permitted to do so before it, like a wife. The second is that he does not; this is the manifest view of Al-Khiraqi, because according to him, the child is not negated while in the womb, and because li'an is established here for the sake of the child, so it is not permissible to perform it until after it is confirmed by birth, unlike a wife, for whom li'an is permitted even in the absence of a child. The same ruling applies to negating a pregnancy in an invalid marriage.

Section: If he buys his wife who is a slave girl, then acknowledges having cohabited with her, then she gives birth to a child after six months, the child is attributed to him and cannot be negated except by claiming the istibra' (period of abstinence to ensure the womb is empty). This is because the child is attributed to him by cohabitation during ownership, not by marriage, due to the presence of ownership, making him like a second husband; the child is attributed to him even if it were possible for the child to have been from the first husband. If he did not acknowledge cohabitation, or he acknowledged it but she gave birth to a child in less than six months from the time he cohabited, the child is attributed to the marriage if that is possible, and he has the right to negate it by li'an. Does this li'an establish permanent prohibition? There are two opinions.

Section: If he accuses his revocably divorced wife, he may perform li'an, whether there is a child between them or not. Abu Talib said: I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about a man who divorces his wife once or twice, then accuses her.