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{{Short description|Aspect of Islamic law}}
{{redirect|Kafala|the legal system for migrant workers|Kafala system}}
{{hatnote|This is a sub-article of the articles ] and ].}} {{hatnote|This is a sub-article of the articles ] and ].}}
{{Fiqh |marital}} {{Fiqh |marital}}

'''Islamic views on adoption''' are generally distinct from practices and customs of ] in other non-Muslim parts of the world like ] or ]n societies. Legal adoption is prohibited and not recognized in Islam. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/Intercountry-Adoption/Adoption-Process/how-to-adopt/adoption-of-children-from-countries-sharia-law.html|title = Adoption of Children from Countries in which Islamic Shari'a Law is Observed}}</ref> <ref> {{cite journal| url=https://www.ius.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:19853fff-ca30-494b-99cc-c07eedd8d891/Fostering_and_Adoption_in_Islamic_Law.pdf|pages = 37| quote= "Referring to the outlined textual evidence, Muslim legal scholars agreed generally and without '''Islamic views on adoption''' are generally distinct from practices and customs of ] in other non-Muslim parts of the world like ] or ]n societies. Adoption in the western sense of the word is not recognized in Islam.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/Intercountry-Adoption/Adoption-Process/how-to-adopt/adoption-of-children-from-countries-sharia-law.html|title = Adoption of Children from Countries in which Islamic Shari'a Law is Observed}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| url=https://www.ius.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:19853fff-ca30-494b-99cc-c07eedd8d891/Fostering_and_Adoption_in_Islamic_Law.pdf|title=Fostering and Adoption in Islamic Law|pages = 7|journal=Electronic Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law| quote=Referring to the outlined textual evidence, Muslim legal scholars agreed generally and without delay that creating a new legal and permanent parent-child relationship by terminating existing legal bonds through adoption is permissible"}}</ref>
delay that creating a new legal and permanent parent-child relationship by terminating existing legal

bonds through adoption is not permissible in Islam"}} </ref>
.
==Description== ==Description==
Raising a child who is not one's genetic child is allowed and, in the case of an orphan, even encouraged. But, according to the Islamic view, the child does not become a true child of the "adoptive" parents. For example, the child is named after the biological, not adoptive, father. This does not mean raising a non-biological child is not allowed. It means that the sponsored child doesn't carry the same name as its sponsoring parents. In Islam it is considered a blessing to take care of an orphan, in fact it is considered a duty to some.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://islam.about.com/cs/parenting/a/adoption.htm|title=Adoption in Islam|author=Huda|work=About.com Religion & Spirituality}}</ref> Thus many Muslims say that it is forbidden by Islamic law to adopt a child (in the common sense of the word), but permissible to take care of another child, which is known in Arabic as {{lang|ar|الكفالة}} (''kafala''), and is translated literally as ''sponsorship''. The sponsored child can become a ] to his sponsoring family, if he or she is breast-fed by the sponsoring mother (see ]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.angelfire.com/la/IslamicView/Adoption.html|title=Adoption|work=angelfire.com}}</ref> Yet this rule of milk kinship applies to sponsored and non sponsored children, and is not specific to sponsored children, and does not confer the right to inheritance to the sponsored. There can also be confusion between a child that has been orphaned and one who has been abandoned but is presumed to have living parents.<ref>http://www.unicef.org/sudan/UNICEF_Sudan_Technical_Briefing_Paper_1_-_Alternative_family_care.pdf</ref> Raising a child who is not one's genetic child is allowed and, in the case of an orphan, even encouraged. But, according to the Islamic view, the child does not become a true child of the "adoptive" parents. For example, the child is named after the biological, not adoptive, father. This does not mean raising a non-biological child is not allowed. It means that the sponsored child doesn't carry the same name as its sponsoring parents. In Islam it is considered a blessing to take care of an orphan, in fact it is considered a duty to some.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://islam.about.com/cs/parenting/a/adoption.htm|title=Adoption in Islam|author=Huda|work=About.com Religion & Spirituality|access-date=2007-07-27|archive-date=2011-11-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121070043/http://islam.about.com/cs/parenting/a/adoption.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Thus many Muslims say that it is forbidden by Islamic law to adopt a child (in the common sense of the word), but permissible to take care of another child, which is known in Arabic as {{lang|ar|الكفالة}} (''kafala''), and is translated literally as ''sponsorship''.


A ] involving ] and ]'s adoptive son ] states: A ] involving ] and ]'s adoptive son ] states:
⚫ :Abu Hudhaifa, one of those who fought the ], with Allah's Apostle adopted Salim as his son and married his niece Hind bint Al-Wahd bin 'Utba to him' and Salim was a freed slave of an ] woman. Prophet Muhammad also adopted Zaid as his son and after he divorce his wife, in order to remove any hesitance that adopted people are not biological sons / daughters of their adopters, married her. And thus the prohibition banning fathers marrying their sons’ wives after the wives are divorced does not apply between adoptive parents and their children.
⚫ In the Pre-Islamic period the custom was that, if one adopted a son, the people would call him by the name of the adopted-father whom he would inherit as well, till Allah revealed: "Call them (adopted sons) By (the names of) their (biological) fathers." (33.5)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/059.sbt.html#005.059.335|title=Cmje|work=usc.edu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060212143553/http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/059.sbt.html#005.059.335|archive-date=2006-02-12}}</ref>


⚫ <blockquote>Abu Hudhaifa, one of those who fought the ], with Allah's Apostle adopted Salim as his son and married his niece Hind bint Al-Wahd bin 'Utba to him' and Salim was a freed slave of an ] woman. Prophet Muhammad also adopted Zaid as his son and after Zaid divorce his wife, in order to remove any hesitance that adopted people are not biological sons / daughters of their adopters, prophet Muhammad married her. And thus the prohibition banning fathers marrying their sons’ wives after the wives are divorced does not apply between adoptive parents and their children.</blockquote>
==Differences between various parent / child relationships==
The western idea of adoption was known in the pre-Islamic era. Prophet Muhammad himself had an adopted son called ]. Islam has specifically outlawed adoption in this sense, after the prophet Muhammad married his adopted son's ex-wife, this led to prove without doubt that the adoptive relationship is no longer legal in Islam. ] mentions specifically that "And he (God) has not made your adopted sons your (true) sons. That is (merely) your saying by your mouths, but Allah says the truth, and He guides to the (right) way".


⚫ In the Pre-Islamic period the custom was that, if one adopted a son, the people would call him by the name of the adopted-father, till Allah revealed: "Call them (adopted sons) By (the names of) their (biological) fathers" (33.5).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/059.sbt.html#005.059.335|title=Cmje|work=usc.edu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060212143553/http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/059.sbt.html#005.059.335|archive-date=2006-02-12}}</ref>
Islam instead introduced a different system called "Kafala", which is literally translated as "sponsorship". The Islamic system of sponsorship (Kafala) is significantly different from the western concept of adoption. For example, while the sponsor provides for the sponsored child's maintenance and living expenses, sponsored children are considered alien to their siblings-by-sponsorship. As in, an adolescent biological daughter must wear hijab and be fully clothed in front of her adolescent brother-by-sponsorship. And it is possible for the biological daughter to marry her brother-by-sponsorship when they get older.

The words "Mum", "Dad", "Brother", and "Sister" are not used by sponsored children to describe members of the sponsor's family. Sponsored children do not inherit any money or possessings from their sponsoring parents, compared to biological children who do inherit.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Qualities
! Biological child
! Sponsored child ("Kafala")
! Milk kinship child
! Adopted Child (outside Islam)
|-
| Right to ] parents
| Yes
| No
| No
| Yes
|-
| Can marry within the immediate family
| No
| ]
| No
| No
|-
| Can see siblings without Hijab (if adolescents)
| Yes
| ]
| Yes
| Yes
|-
| Right to be called after father's name
| Yes
| No
| No
| Yes
|-
| Can call parents "Mum" and "Dad"
| Yes
| No
| Can say "my nursing mum"
| Yes
|-
| Right to living expenses
| Yes
| Yes - voluntarily
| No
| Yes
|-
| Right to live with same family after puberty
| Yes
| No
| No
| Yes
|-

|}


==Discussion== ==Discussion==
There is now some discussion about reconsidering some of the rules about Islamic adoptions. A groundbreaking study was done by the Muslim Women's Shura Council<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/about/shuracouncil/|title=The Global Muslim Women's Shura Council - WISE Muslim Women|work=wisemuslimwomen.org|access-date=2012-11-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126230314/http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/about/shuracouncil|archive-date=2012-11-26|url-status=dead}}</ref> in August 2011 titled, "Adoption and the Care of Orphan Children: Islam and the Best Interests of the Child".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/images/activism/Adoption_(August_2011)_Final.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-11-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210050728/http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/images/activism/Adoption_(August_2011)_Final.pdf |archive-date=2013-02-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This report examined Islamic sources and concluded "adoption can be acceptable under Islamic law and its principal objectives, as long as important ethical guidelines are followed." The study represents a form of independent reasoning (ijtihad) and may raise some awareness and contribute toward shaping a future consensus (ijma) on the issue.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url= http://jurist.org/forum/2012/11/faisal-kutty-adoption-kafalah.php|title= Islamic Law, Adoptions and Kafalah|access-date= 2012-11-14|publisher= jurist.org}}</ref> There is now some discussion about reconsidering some of the rules about Islamic adoptions. A groundbreaking study was done by the Muslim Women's Shura Council<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/about/shuracouncil/|title=The Global Muslim Women's Shura Council - WISE Muslim Women|work=wisemuslimwomen.org|access-date=2012-11-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126230314/http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/about/shuracouncil|archive-date=2012-11-26|url-status=dead}}</ref> in August 2011 titled, "Adoption and the Care of Orphan Children: Islam and the Best Interests of the Child".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/images/activism/Adoption_(August_2011)_Final.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-11-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210050728/http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/images/activism/Adoption_(August_2011)_Final.pdf |archive-date=2013-02-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This report examined Islamic sources and concluded "adoption can be acceptable under Islamic law and its principal objectives, as long as important ethical guidelines are followed." The study represents a form of independent reasoning (ijtihad) and may raise some awareness and contribute toward shaping a future consensus (ijma) on the issue.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url= http://jurist.org/forum/2012/11/faisal-kutty-adoption-kafalah.php|title= Islamic Law, Adoptions and Kafalah|date= 6 November 2012|access-date= 2012-11-14|publisher= jurist.org}}</ref>


Islamic law scholar ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jurist.org/forum/2012/11/faisal-kutty-adoption-kafalah.php|title=JURIST - Islamic Law, Adoptions and Kafalah|work=jurist.org}}</ref> argues that this report and a number of other developments in the area provide for some optimism that we may be at the cusp of a sea change in this area.<ref name="auto"/> Kutty argues that the belief that closed adoption, as practiced in the West, is the only acceptable form of permanent childcare is a significant obstacle to its acceptance among many Muslims.<ref name="ssrn.com">{{cite document |author=Faisal Kutty|year=2014|title=Islamic Law and Adoptions |ssrn=2457066}}<!-- Seems to significantly differ from published version in 978-1-4438-7129-7 / http://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/62311 --></ref> The situation is significantly different when we move to open adoptions, where there is not negation of the biological parentage. Kutty believes that there is sufficient basis in Islamic jurisprudence to argue for qualified support of adoptions and even international adoptions.<ref name="ssrn.com"/> He writes that it is undeniable that taking care of orphans and foundlings is a religious obligation and that the best interest of children has been a recurrent theme among the various juristic schools.<ref name="ssrn.com"/> Arguably one of the best ways to take care of these children is to place them in loving homes, provided that a child's lineage is not intentionally negated or concealed.<ref name="ssrn.com"/> He argues that a reformed model {{additional citation needed|date=June 2017}} of Islamic adoptions will enable Muslims to fulfill this religious obligation while ensuring that the most vulnerable do not fall through technical cracks and will not be negatively impacted by formal rules that no longer serve their intended purposes.<ref name="ssrn.com"/> Islamic law scholar ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jurist.org/forum/2012/11/faisal-kutty-adoption-kafalah.php|title=JURIST - Islamic Law, Adoptions and Kafalah|work=jurist.org|date=6 November 2012 }}</ref> argues that this report and a number of other developments in the area provide for some optimism that we may be at the cusp of a sea change in this area.<ref name="auto"/> Kutty argues that the belief that closed adoption, as practiced in the West, is the only acceptable form of permanent childcare is a significant obstacle to its acceptance among many Muslims.<ref name="ssrn.com">{{cite SSRN |author=Faisal Kutty|year=2014|title=Islamic Law and Adoptions |ssrn=2457066}}<!-- Seems to significantly differ from published version in 978-1-4438-7129-7 / http://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/62311 --></ref> The situation is significantly different when we move to open adoptions, where there is not negation of the biological parentage. Kutty believes that there is sufficient basis in Islamic jurisprudence to argue for qualified support of adoptions and even international adoptions.<ref name="ssrn.com"/> He writes that it is undeniable that taking care of orphans and foundlings is a religious obligation and that the best interest of children has been a recurrent theme among the various juristic schools.<ref name="ssrn.com"/> Arguably one of the best ways to take care of these children is to place them in loving homes, provided that a child's lineage is not intentionally negated or concealed.<ref name="ssrn.com"/> He argues that a reformed model {{additional citation needed|date=June 2017}} of Islamic adoptions will enable Muslims to fulfill this religious obligation while ensuring that the most vulnerable do not fall through technical cracks and will not be negatively impacted by formal rules that no longer serve their intended purposes.<ref name="ssrn.com"/>


==See also== ==See also==
⚫ * ]
*]
* ]
⚫ *]
*] * ]


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}} {{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

* Pastena, Adele. Recognition of Kafala in the Italian Law System from a Comparative Perspective. United Kingdom, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020.


==External links== ==External links==
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{{Adopt}} {{Adopt}}


] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]

Latest revision as of 04:17, 25 July 2023

Aspect of Islamic law This is a sub-article of the articles Islamic marital jurisprudence and Adoption.
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Islamic views on adoption are generally distinct from practices and customs of adoption in other non-Muslim parts of the world like Western or East Asian societies. Adoption in the western sense of the word is not recognized in Islam.

Description

Raising a child who is not one's genetic child is allowed and, in the case of an orphan, even encouraged. But, according to the Islamic view, the child does not become a true child of the "adoptive" parents. For example, the child is named after the biological, not adoptive, father. This does not mean raising a non-biological child is not allowed. It means that the sponsored child doesn't carry the same name as its sponsoring parents. In Islam it is considered a blessing to take care of an orphan, in fact it is considered a duty to some. Thus many Muslims say that it is forbidden by Islamic law to adopt a child (in the common sense of the word), but permissible to take care of another child, which is known in Arabic as الكفالة (kafala), and is translated literally as sponsorship.

A hadith involving Aisha and Abu-Hudhayfah ibn Utbah's adoptive son Salim mawla Abu Hudaifa states:

Abu Hudhaifa, one of those who fought the battle of Badr, with Allah's Apostle adopted Salim as his son and married his niece Hind bint Al-Wahd bin 'Utba to him' and Salim was a freed slave of an Ansari woman. Prophet Muhammad also adopted Zaid as his son and after Zaid divorce his wife, in order to remove any hesitance that adopted people are not biological sons / daughters of their adopters, prophet Muhammad married her. And thus the prohibition banning fathers marrying their sons’ wives after the wives are divorced does not apply between adoptive parents and their children.

In the Pre-Islamic period the custom was that, if one adopted a son, the people would call him by the name of the adopted-father, till Allah revealed: "Call them (adopted sons) By (the names of) their (biological) fathers" (33.5).

Discussion

There is now some discussion about reconsidering some of the rules about Islamic adoptions. A groundbreaking study was done by the Muslim Women's Shura Council in August 2011 titled, "Adoption and the Care of Orphan Children: Islam and the Best Interests of the Child". This report examined Islamic sources and concluded "adoption can be acceptable under Islamic law and its principal objectives, as long as important ethical guidelines are followed." The study represents a form of independent reasoning (ijtihad) and may raise some awareness and contribute toward shaping a future consensus (ijma) on the issue.

Islamic law scholar Faisal Kutty argues that this report and a number of other developments in the area provide for some optimism that we may be at the cusp of a sea change in this area. Kutty argues that the belief that closed adoption, as practiced in the West, is the only acceptable form of permanent childcare is a significant obstacle to its acceptance among many Muslims. The situation is significantly different when we move to open adoptions, where there is not negation of the biological parentage. Kutty believes that there is sufficient basis in Islamic jurisprudence to argue for qualified support of adoptions and even international adoptions. He writes that it is undeniable that taking care of orphans and foundlings is a religious obligation and that the best interest of children has been a recurrent theme among the various juristic schools. Arguably one of the best ways to take care of these children is to place them in loving homes, provided that a child's lineage is not intentionally negated or concealed. He argues that a reformed model of Islamic adoptions will enable Muslims to fulfill this religious obligation while ensuring that the most vulnerable do not fall through technical cracks and will not be negatively impacted by formal rules that no longer serve their intended purposes.

See also

References

  1. "Adoption of Children from Countries in which Islamic Shari'a Law is Observed".
  2. "Fostering and Adoption in Islamic Law" (PDF). Electronic Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law: 7. Referring to the outlined textual evidence, Muslim legal scholars agreed generally and without delay that creating a new legal and permanent parent-child relationship by terminating existing legal bonds through adoption is permissible"
  3. Huda. "Adoption in Islam". About.com Religion & Spirituality. Archived from the original on 2011-11-21. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
  4. "Cmje". usc.edu. Archived from the original on 2006-02-12.
  5. "The Global Muslim Women's Shura Council - WISE Muslim Women". wisemuslimwomen.org. Archived from the original on 2012-11-26. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-10. Retrieved 2012-11-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "Islamic Law, Adoptions and Kafalah". jurist.org. 6 November 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-14.
  8. "JURIST - Islamic Law, Adoptions and Kafalah". jurist.org. 6 November 2012.
  9. ^ Faisal Kutty (2014). "Islamic Law and Adoptions". SSRN 2457066.

Bibliography

  • Pastena, Adele. Recognition of Kafala in the Italian Law System from a Comparative Perspective. United Kingdom, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020.

External links

Adoption and foster care
Adoption by country
Foster care by country
Issues
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History
Controversial violations of rights
in adoption or child custody
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