A Critical Study of the Well-known Opinion of Shiite Jurists on the Inheritance of a Bastard

According to the well-known opinion of Shiite jurists a child born out of wedlock is prohibited from inheriting from his/her own natural parents. This rule, however, is not among those consensual laws which accept no new rereading. The evidence supporting this law is, basically, some single hadiths (khabar wāhid) which suffer from weakness in terms of authenticity and indication and implication. Also, the law is in conflict with some general Qur’anic teachings as well as some other theological and rational principles like the principle of equality in rights and obligations, The jurisprudential rule of justice and negation of oppression and the principle that responsibility is, in essence, personal. This article criticizes religious evidence supporting the well-known opinion and argues that there is some reliable evidence in favor of permissibility of inheritance of a bastard from their own natural parents. What is prohibited is to inherit natural parents of an illegitimate child from her/him not the reversed.