Fatwa ID: 09060
Answered by Mufti Sakib Shadman
Question:
If a government is paying out its citizens to adopt/look after children for a specified period, eg., 2 years, is this permissible given that the children are Majhool, could be anybody, any religion etc
What is the Hukm here
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
If the specific country’s adoption system is as you have described, it is undoubtedly Haram for a Muslim to relinquish guardianship of their child and place their child in such a system where the child could be raised by non-Muslim foster parents and potentially turn away from Islam as a result. [3]
However, if you aim to adopt a child from this system, then it will be permissible and extremely rewarding under certain conditions:
- If the adopted child is Baligh (mature), then Pardah (segregation) must be observed between the child and the parent of the opposite gender. E.g. if a teenage girl is placed in your custody, she must be segregated from the male foster parent, and vice versa. [2]
- The child should not be legally adopted. In your case, the arrangement is temporary (for 2 or so years), so legal adoption will be out of the question. [1]
- Because the child is not legally yours, inheritance will not take place between the foster parents and the foster child, nor will the child assume the lineage of the parents.
- Finally, the child can be of any religion; however, if the child is not Muslim, you are not permitted to feed them Haram food or allow them to indulge in Haram practices. [5]
If all these conditions are adhered to, you will be highly rewarded for fostering children through your country’s adoption system, and it will be completely permissible. [4]
Only Allah ﷻ knows best.
Written by Mufti Sakib Shadman
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
References:
[1]
فَلَا يُقَالُ: هَذَا خَالِي أَوْ عَمِّي عَلَى إرَادَةِ الْإِكْرَامِ فَكَانَ ذِكْرُهُ لِلتَّحْقِيقِ وَبِخِلَافِ قَوْلِهِ: هَذَا ابْنِي أَوْ هَذَا أَبِي؛ لِأَنَّهُ لَا يُسْتَعْمَلُ فِي الْإِكْرَامِ عُرْفًا وَشَرْعًا وَقَدْ مَنَعَ الشَّرْعُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى ﴿وَمَا جَعَلَ أَدْعِيَاءَكُمْ أَبْنَاءَكُمْ﴾ [الأحزاب: ٤] وَقَالَ ﷾ ﴿ادْعُوهُمْ لآبَائِهِمْ هُوَ أَقْسَطُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَعْلَمُوا آبَاءَهُمْ فَإِخْوَانُكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَمَوَالِيكُمْ﴾ [الأحزاب: ٥].
Badā’iʿ al-Ṣanā’iʿ fī Tartīb al-Sharā’iʿ, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, n.d. (Vol. 6), p. 52.
Accessed via al-Maktabah al-Shāmilah – 02-05-26.
[2]
(قَوْلُهُ وَتُمْنَعُ الْمَرْأَةُ إلَخْ) أَيْ تُنْهَى عَنْهُ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ عَوْرَةً (قَوْلُهُ بَلْ لِخَوْفِ الْفِتْنَةِ) أَيْ الْفُجُورِ بِهَا قَامُوسٌ أَوْ الشَّهْوَةِ. وَالْمَعْنَى تُمْنَعُ مِنْ الْكَشْفِ لِخَوْفِ أَنْ يَرَى الرِّجَالُ وَجْهَهَا فَتَقَعُ الْفِتْنَةُ لِأَنَّهُ مَعَ الْكَشْفِ قَدْ يَقَعُ النَّظَرُ إلَيْهَا بِشَهْوَةٍ.
Radd al-Muḥtār ʿalā al-Durr al-Mukhtār (Ḥāshiyat Ibn ʿĀbidīn), Dār al-Fikr / Ṭ. al-Ḥalabī, n.d. (Vol. 1), p. 406.
Accessed via al-Maktabah al-Shāmilah – 02-05-26.
[3]
سد الذرائع المُفْضِية إلى الحرام (٣) أحد أرباع الدين.
Iʿlām al-Muwaqqiʿīn ʿan Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn, ed. Mashhūr Ḥasan, Dār Ibn al-Jawzī, n.d. (Vol. 1), p. 66.
Accessed via al-Maktabah al-Shāmilah – 02-05-26.
[4]
٣ـ الأصلُ في الأشياءِ الإباحَةُ.
Taysīr ʿIlm Uṣūl al-Fiqh, n.d., p. 223.
Accessed via al-Maktabah al-Shāmilah – 02-05-26.
[5]
(وتعاونوا على البر والتقوى ولا تعاونوا على الإثم والعدوان)
(Surah Ma’idah, verse 2)