Is there anyone that knows the correct Islamic ruling on adoption?
It breaks my heart that so many Muslim children are without parents. And my brother is very interested in adopting a child..he already has one biological child with his wife.
Also, please share any adoption stories that any of you or your family/friends have gone through!
Re: All Things Adoption
A fatwa from a trustworthy source
Islam Question and Answer - He found a baby and adopted him
Also note that the child’s last name won’t be your brother’s first name as he is not the real father. The child’s last name should be the first name of his father , if his father is not know then it should be Abdullah (Servant of Allah), as the child is the son of a Servant of Allah.
Allah knows best.
Re: All Things Adoption
I don’t mean any disrespect by sharing my view point.
Honestly, some of the rulings and rules that people pull out as Islamic are no longer valid because the world has changed so radically since that ruling or taken out of context. I think people should try to get to the meaning behind the ruling or a fatwa. Back in the day when you lived in a itty bitty tribe, it was important to keep the adopted child’s name the same as before to prevent incest.
Now when you don’t know who the father of the child is it’s kinda hard to keep his/her last nameand if the child is being adopted from overseas are they seriously going to get in touch with their biological siblings and fall in love and end up in marriage?
Re: All Things Adoption
^ My understanding of the name is that the adoptive father cannot use his name in place of father’s name for the adopted child.
For instance like in passport forms, school forms , nikahnama and stuff like that. i.e. wherever there is a need to mention father’s name, real fathers name is supposed to be used but last name can be anything.
Women change their last name to their husband’s when they get married , right sothat does not change their father’s name.
Re: All Things Adoption
If you search ‘Parenting’ forum, you will find many threads on adoption. There are a couple of users on this forum who have successfully adopted, not usre if they are still active here.
I have not adopted, but I did some fact collection a while ago and found the threads useful.
Re: All Things Adoption
Just because times change rulings don’t change with time, people’s acceptability of these rulings change. The wisdom behind naming a child after their biological father doesn’t have to do with them falling in love with their biological siblings (though a possibility).
What best source do we have besides the word of Allah :
Call them by [the names of] their fathers; it is more just in the sight of Allah . But if you do not know their fathers - then they are [still] your brothers in religion and those entrusted to you. And there is no blame upon you for that in which you have erred but [only for] what your hearts intended. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. (33:5)
After this ayah was revealed Zaid (R.A.) wasn’t known as Zaid bin Muhammad anymore, he was affiliated with his own father .
Most people, when they find out they are adopted, have to go through a tough time. A child who has been adopted from abroad will eventually put two and two together and realize that he or she is adopted. The next thing that happens are the questions : Who are my real parents, why did they leave me, do I have any siblings etc. etc. Some people do actually meet up with their biological parents.
So the ruling about adoption is not outdated and applies to our time as well.
Also through feeding an adopted child can also be made a mahram which is something you can not find in any other religion. It’s only through the knowledge of hadith that we find this out.
In the end, Allah knows Best.
Re: All Things Adoption
So please enlighten me as to why adopted children do not get the adopted father’s last name? And how is fair that an adopted child is not treated equally as the biological children? How is it fair that a man leaves majority of his wealth to his brothers and not his children if they are adopted?
Re: All Things Adoption
That’s really big-hearted of your brother to consider adoption, MashaAllah.
I’ll share a family experience.
My Uncle adopted two kids years ago. The whole family supported him, MashaAllah. The adoption process was incredibly difficult and even family members were interviewed and checked etc. After about a year they were finally allowed to adopt the kids they wanted.
Both adopted kids came from very abusive parents and through the courts the biological parents were told they were not even allowed to live in the same city as their kids and they were never allowed to have any contact again. My Uncle told the family openly what all his adopted kids had been put through as he didn’t want to keep secrets.
My Uncle did not want his adopted kids to have their biological father’s real surname due to the horrific things the kids were put through. He also wanted to protect their identities which is why both of his adopted kids had taken his last name. Both kids know they’re adopted. MashaAllah, both go to private school and are so hard-working, cheerful and well-mannered. My Uncle is doing a fantastic job, MashaAllah.
His adoption story is very inspiring.
My other cousins are just a month away from getting their adopted child, InshaAllah. They have two kids already.
Re: All Things Adoption
Adopted children do not get their adopted father’s last name to maintain the ties of kinship in Islam. Allah (S.W.T.) sets all the rules as He knows what’s best.
A man leaves all two-third of his wealth in inheritance to his heirs. For the one-third that is left a will must be made. Now the person making the will decides how he wants this wealth to be distributed : give it in charity, built a masjid and YES even give it to my adopted child. See that’s the beauty of Islam. So you can even give to your adopted child.
Let’s also suppose that the adopted child lost his father in his lifetime. So after the loss of his father he got adopted (I know of a family who has adopted twins, taken them to the US and is having them study there and live there and their own mother is happy about this). In this case an adopted child does inherit from their deceased father. So if the father is known , an adopted child inherits from them and also gets a share from the adopted father , i.e. if he mentions that in his will. Do you still think that’s unfair?
Also I think you would be interested in reading this:
Adoption in Islam - Islam web - English
You are talking based on the scenario you described. Most people who want to adopt, adopt little kids from orphanages or other social services agencies. These kids have no ties to their biological parents and the commonly used muslim last names in a sea of a billion muslims means nothing when these kids are flown thousands of miles away from their birth place and possibly their biological parents.
As for inheritance. An adopted son may get 33% of his fathers wealth but if his parents had no other children, who inherits the other 67% because according to Islamic inheritance laws, the wife is not the sole heir note the adopted son. So give away the money the mother and child would live on to the father and brothers of the deceased man? Bravo… Times have changed, families living arrangements have changed but we will obey antiquated laws because of rigid people?
Re: All Things Adoption
As for the surname of a child like it said if the childs father is unknown the last name of the child will be Abdullah. So child so and so son or daughter of Abdullah. That’s why even after marriage you can’t your surname Islamically.
A common reason people give for rejecting the rulings of Islam is that time has changed. None of us makes the rules around here . This is something ordained by Allah (s.w.t) and HE doesn’t do the least bit injustice to anyone . The laws of division are based on HIS hikmah.
So what ayats in Quran talk about this last name being Abdullah business?
There are threads on GS about adoption, and topics like inheritance, last name etc.
Look em up
Re: All Things Adoption
I already mentioned the ayah in one of my previous posts.
I’ve done the tafseer of the Quran . During the tafseer of this ayah it was explained that if the surname of the child is unknown the child’s surname should be kept as Abdullah as he is the son of the servant of Allah.
Really…so the tafseer somehow manages to add entire new rulings that is nowhere in the ayat. I am well aware of this view of using Abdullah for boys and amatullah for girls. There simply is no real evidence. Wonder who wrote the tafseer.
What it says is call them by the name of their fathers, it is more just…(got it..so its better to call them by the name of their father…more just, not its the only just way) …continuing…but if that is not known…they are your brothers in faith and Allah is merciful and understands your good intentions… To paraphrase, I don’t really find the word Abdullah or amatullah anywhere.
I have it directly from a discussion with the imam of kabbah that your last name can be given if that is best for the child, provided you do not hide the adoption and claim the child to be biological child.
Re: All Things Adoption
I always find adoption stories so heartwarming and inspiring. I always had this dream that I would adopt a little girl, lets see what Allah has in store for me. 
Re: All Things Adoption
Everyone should thank, Peony for ruining a perfectly simple and heart-warming thread. Clearly, she is making an issue out of nothing and refuting quranic text. Now, if you’re not a Muslim then just accept that is how Muslims do it and if you are a Muslim than what is your deal? Jeezo.
If you don’t understand than god be with you.
Re: All Things Adoption
Tasfeer constitues the ahadith of Rasul Allah (S.A.W.). How do you know how to perform salah , hajj , wudu etc. You can’t just take the Quranic ayahs on their own. Through tafseer you have a better understanding of the Quran.
It doesn’t explicitly say the word Abdullah and Amatullah in the ayah. The ayahs in the Quran are precise . So in order to actually understand an ayah you can’t always take the ayah alone. You understand it better when you do the tafseer of the Quran because that’s how you learn about many rulings .
You can check the fatwa I’m providing , which contains an ahadith from Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari … The two most authentic books of ahadith . The fatwa’s given are all by scholars from Saudi so it’s one of the most authentic sites that provides fatwa.
Can you provide the exact quote of the Imam? Any link or anything?
Sorry your explanation does not support you. It is narrations of additional information that is simply not stated in the Quran. People had their own way to explain stuff, but the intent was less about name and more about familial, financial factors that would be managed that way.
The argument of ‘how’ you perform salah is bogus, because by that anything that is not stated can be appended to anything. I don’t buy it.
As far as proof of the statement of the imam, it was a personal direct conversation explaining the situation and asking for advise. I have no hyperlinks.
The ayat simply suggests that it is preferable to use the fathers name, but if it is not known, then the kid is your brother in faith and that god is merciful and knows your intentions. Ergo., if you know the name it’s better but if you don’t, then god knows your intentions and is merciful ie do your best but if you don’t have the info, you are not on the hook for anything.
Naming is not anywhere in there. So regardless of which mufti decides to invent it, I reject it.
The logic is very simple and it is that you can not claim an adopted child as your biological child, and contrary tro popular beliefs that naming and all that jazz is to prevent some chances of incest, it is to protect the rights of the child. So it prevents a person from adopting an orphan and taking over his assets because he has rights to it since he is the father. First, It’s the rights of the orphans being protected, naming was one identifier back then, now there are records, and that takes care of it. The other aspects of family opposition to adopt due to some automatic share in inheritance is also to encourage adoption and decrease opposition by spouses or children.
An adopted child has many struggles other kids don’t, identity, feeling of belonging, just being some major ones. There is no rational reason to stamp a child with the label of having an unknown father to add to the kid’s challenges. God is Rehman and Raheem, and if it is better for the child’s emotional wellbeing, then that is what is going to take place and I refer to the second part of the ayat that plainly says, Allah knows your intentions and is merciful.
I am all for tafseer and muftis but if they simply can’t get the intention then that can not be helped. Allah knows intentions and is merciful..as stated plainly in Quran without the need for someone to add additional info and their interpretations.
Intent is critical, it’s a simple religion. It’s our professional religion brokers that have made it complex for their own self serving interests just like those of other faiths.
It’s simple, adopt a child, protect his interests, don’t take what’s his, don’t face opposition to adopt from those who are worried about their financial interests in your wealth, understand the ability for that child to be married in your family and vice versa. Nothing too complicated about it. But 1400 years later we have to invent rulings like naming a child Abdullah
The entire basis of financial and familial requirements can be adhered to without worrying about naming. Now this may be a challenge in Pakistan where majority of adoptions are new born kids because it is never publicized that they are adopted, and personally I don’t even have an issue with that because the society there would never be kind and fair to that child overall. In that case, I say hide it, protect the child. It’s between the people and god, as long as they are able to adhere to the essence of what is being said..who cares.
Re: All Things Adoption
I took 20 minutes to type my argument but then I remembered the following hadith and deleted all that I had typed :
The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “I guarantee a house in Jannah for one who gives up arguing, even if he is in the right; and I guarantee a home in the middle of Jannah for one who abandons lying even for the sake of fun; and I guarantee a house in the highest part of Jannah for one who has good manners.”
[Sunan Abu Dawud]
I chose the house in Jannah
Asalamalikum Wa rahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu
Re: All Things Adoption
thank you for choosing what you felt was the proper approach for you.
Moving on now..
For others who may be reading…please remember…we start everything in the name of god who is rehman and raheem..
do you really think that when adoption guidance came about, it meant that little children would be open to societal scrutiny and being looked down upon, because you slapped on an identifier indicating that the father of this child is not known? the argument is not to hide it from the child, or to not follow the familial and financial logic, but it is up to the parents to decide who knows and how much they know, because people can be cruel. We had an adopted girl on GS earlier who had noted how poorly she was even treated by her own family’s servants when they found out she was an abandoned child who was adopted.
or, that not having a share of inheritance meant that the siblings of some departed man will kick his adopted child to the curb and take over all their brother’s assets? and that one can not give the child something as a gift, or have others with a claim to the inheritance give it up in the interest of the child.
If someone really thinks that is what God’s intent was to happen, then I dont know what else I can say.