Principle of the Doctrine of Legitimacy by Acknowledgement:

 Principle of the Doctrine of Legitimacy by Acknowledgement:

Whenever the paternity of a child, that is, its legitimate descent from its father, cannot be shown by establishing the marriage between the child's biological parents at the time of the child's conception or birth, the marriage and legitimate descent can be established by "acknowledgement." It is not necessary to announce acknowledgement of paternity. The fact that one person has openly and consistently treated another as if he or she were his or her legitimate kid may be used as evidence of such recognition. For example, as noted by the Privy Council, "it has been decided in various occasions that there is no requirement for proof of an express acceptance, but that an acknowledgement of children by a Muhammadan as his sons may be inferred from his having publicly treated them as such." (Muhammad Azmat v. Lalli Begum, 9 I.A., 1881; Muhammad Azmat v. Lalli Begum, 1881; Muhammad Azmat v. Lalli Begum, 1881; Muhammad Azmat v. Lalli Begum, 1881; Muhammad Azmat v. Lalli Begum, 1881; Muhammad Azmat v. Lalli Begum, 1881; Muhammad Azmat v. Lalli Begum, 18 It is possible to establish paternity of a child if the kid is born during the continuation of a legitimate marriage or within 280 days of its dissolution, with the mother continuing to be unmarried. The mother of a kid is determined by the fact that she gives birth to the child; it makes no difference whether the child is the product of a lawful or irregular marriage, or even of fornication or adultery, as long as the mother is the mother of the child.

Muhammadan law prescribes a particular procedure for establishing the legitimacy of a child and for establishing the marriage of the kid's mother. Due to the fact that a Muslim marriage can be formed without the use of a ceremony, the reality of a marriage in a particular situation may be up for debate. If no direct evidence of the marriage is available, indirect evidence may be used to establish the relationship. The recognition of the legitimacy of a kid is one of the types of indirect proof that can be used. Muhammadan law specifies a unique procedure for determining the authenticity of a child's parentage. As long as a man either expressly admits or treats another in a manner that is tantamount to acknowledgment of another as his lawful kid, his paternity will be proven in the eyes of the law, provided that all of the following seven elements are met:

1. The acknowledger must be of legal age to enter into a legally binding contract in order for the contract to be valid.

Consequently, under specific situations, when a Muslim recognises a certain child as his legitimate offspring, the paternity of that child is established in the Muslim's own mind. In actuality, however, the theory only applies in situations when the validity of a purported marriage is in doubt. It cannot be used to legitimise a child who has already been proven to be an illegitimate child. The doctrine of legitimacy by acknowledgement is based wholly on the assumption of legitimacy and the establishment of legitimacy by the power of such acknowledgement, and it does not consider any other considerations. It is not enough to acknowledge sonship; it must also acknowledge legitimate sonship, which is more difficult to achieve. Moreover, they must have ages that are compatible with the existence of a parenting relationship, i.e., the acknowledger must be at least twelve and a half years younger than the person acknowledged. 

4. The individual who is to be recognised must not be the progeny of any sexual relations that would be considered unlawful under Muhammadan law, such as adultery, incest, or fornication.

It is necessary that the paternity of the person who is to be acknowledged be known, i.e., the child who will be acknowledged must be known to be the offspring of someone else.

Sixth, the acknowledged person must think that he (or she) is the acknowledger's child, and the child must verify (or, at the very least, not deny) the acknowledgement.

The acknowledger should be a man who may have legitimately been the husband of the child's mother at the time of the child's conception. If there is actual evidence that the man and the mother of the child were never married, or that if there had been a marriage between them, it would have been null and void, the presumption of legitimacy cannot be raised by acknowledgment, no matter how strong the presumption of legitimacy may be. (Rashid Ahmed v. Anisa Khatun, (1932) 34 Bom L.R. 475 PC. 59 I.A. 21; Rashid Ahmed v. Anisa Khatun, (1932) 34 Bom L.R. 475 PC. 59 I.A. 21)

In the case of Rashid Ahmed, A, a Muslim, divorced his wife B by three pronouncements of talak, but he then continued to cohabit with her and treat her as his wife for the next fifteen years. The couple had five children during this time, all of whom he considered as his genuine offspring, and they were all adopted.

The Privy Council, on the other hand, determined that the children were not genuine. Prior to A and B being able to remarry after their divorce was finalised by three pronouncements, should have been married to another man during the interim period and divorced by that man.

Given the lack of documentation demonstrating A and's previous marriage to another man, as well as the absence of a divorce from him, there was no basis for raising the presumption of remarriage. As a result, the children were declared to be illegitimate and so unable to inherit from their father.

On the issue of paternity recognition, the observations of the Allahabad High Court in Muhammad Allahabad v. Muhammad Ismail (1888-10-All. 289) are instructive. In that case, the Court made the following observation:

"There is no reference whatsoever in the Muhammadan law of acknowledgement of parentage, with its legitimating effect, to cases in which the illegitimacy of the child is proven and established, either by reason of a lawful union between the parents of the child being impossible (as in the case of an incestuous intercourse or an adulterous connection), or by reason of a marriage, necessary to render the child legitimate, being disproved."

The concept applies only in situations where either the reality of the marriage itself or the precise moment of its occurrence with regard to the legitimacy of the recognised child is not proved in the legal sense, as opposed to being disproved. In other words, the concept only applies in circumstances of doubt about the legitimacy of the child, and in such cases, acknowledgement has its effect, but that effect always proceeds on the assumption of a legal union between the child's parents."