The lineage is not nullified except by both of them performing the li'an, because the marital bed (firash) remains established until she performs the li'an, and the child belongs to the marital bed. The Qadi said: "This narration is more correct." This is the view of those who agree with us that there is no hadd upon her; this is due to the saying of Allah the Almighty: {And it shall avert the punishment from her if she bears witness four times}. This indicates that if she does not bear witness, the punishment is not averted from her. The second narration is that she is released; this is the view of Abu Bakr, because the hadd is not mandatory upon her, so she must be released, just as if the evidence were incomplete. As for the marriage, it is not dissolved, and the lineage is not disavowed as long as the li'an between them is not complete, according to the consensus of the scholars, except for al-Shafi'i, for he ruled for separation and the disavowal of the child by the mere li'an of the husband. We have already mentioned that.

1338 - Issue: He said: "And likewise if she confesses less than four times."

In summary, if a man accuses his wife (qadhf) and she confirms his statement, and she confesses to zina once, twice, or three times, the hadd is not mandatory upon her; because it is not established except by confession four times, as will be mentioned in the section on hadd punishments. Furthermore, if her confirmation of him occurs before his li'an, then there is no li'an between them; because the li'an is like evidence, it is only established with denial. If it occurs after his li'an, she does not perform the li'an; because she does not take an oath alongside a confession, and her ruling is the same as if she had refused without a confession. Abu Hanifa held this view. Al-Shafi'i said: If she confirms him before his li'an, the hadd is upon her, and he does not have the right to perform li'an, unless there is a lineage he is disavowing, in which case he performs the li'an alone, and the lineage is disavowed by his mere li'an. If it is after his li'an, the lineage is already disavowed, and the hadd is binding upon her; based on the principle that the lineage is disavowed by his mere li'an, separation occurs, the hadd becomes mandatory, and that the hadd becomes mandatory upon a single confession. Most of these principles have already passed. If she confesses four times, the hadd is mandatory, and there is no li'an between them if there is no lineage being disavowed. And if she retracts, the hadd drops from her.