asAs already there is an answer to this question, iI will try to navigate my answer towards understanding this hadith and clarifying without iteration.
thisThis hadith seems to cause consternation in appearance and this is one of the many hadith that are often misunderstood and misquoted. theThe apparent meaning is a direct conflict to the quranicQuranic maxim of no one should bear the burden of another [ 6:164, 17:15, 35:18, 39:7, 53:38 ]
thisThis hadith (Sunan Abu Dawud 3963) does not mean illegitimate children are worse by nature of being illegitimate, it was specific to the person whom the Prophet ﷺ was addressing and the comments of Abu Hurayah are based on a misunderstanding of what the Prophet ﷺ said.
toTo clarify, first iI would like to quote the narration by Urwah, recorded by Imam At-Tahawi :
fromFrom these, it's pretty much clear that the literal meaning of the hadith in general has nothing to do with the children born of adultery. thisThis is further strengthened by the reports of the companion Abdullah b. Umar and well known scholars from the subsequent generation al-Sha'bi and 'Ikrimah, the freed slave of Ibn Abbas, recorded by Abd al-Razzaq :
withWith that iI believe we have a better understanding of the hadith and when iI tried to find more explanations, Imam Baghawi writes :
justJust to have more clarity iI would like to quote from the comments section of the Darrussallam edition of Sunan Abu Dawud of this hadith :
These details conclusively prove that hadith in question was specific to a person in the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) and does not apply to all children born of illegitimate intimacy. and thisThis is also the view of almost all the major and majority of scholars, both classic and contemporary.
NOTE importance has been given to include narrations/evidences that are authentic and in cases where there are slight concerns about the chain of narrators, iI have included narrations that hashave corroborating evidences thus following the best practice.
mayMay Allah the mighty and sublime grant us mercy and guide us to the straight path.