Answer

Salam Dear Sister,

Thank you for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam.

One of the key goals of the laws in Islam is to protect family lineage and human dignity. Among the rights of a child is to know who their parents are or who they were.

Everyone, as far as is humanly possible, has the right to know the identity of his/her mother and father. This includes the right to know who their siblings are, whether full or half siblings.

Part of the reason for this is so that people know who their ancestors were, whether they have extended family somewhere or not, but also to ensure that they do not marry their parents or siblings out of ignorance of their existence.

There have been cases where people were attracted to a direct family member and pursued a relationship, only to find out that they were a half-brother or sister.

Most people remain in the vicinity of the town or city in which they were born for most of their lives, so it would not be unusual for a person to fall into this problem if the truth was hidden from them about their biological parents and siblings.

Children should be informed about parents and siblings as soon as they are able to understand, and ideally have relationships with them from birth onward.

I hope this helps answer your question.

Salam and please keep in touch.