Answer
Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His
In this fatwa:
Adopting children for caring and bringing up is a required but it should not be dealt with like the biological lineage.
Responding to your question, Dr. Muhammad Salama, PhD in Islamic Studies in English and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Islamic Science, Al-Madinah International University, states:
Adopting children for the purpose of bringing them up and caring for them is not only permissible, but in fact a very good and blessed deed, especially in the case of orphans and foundlings.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “I and the one who sustains an orphan are like this in Paradise.” Then he joined between his index and middle fingers.” (Al-Bukhari)
However, it is unlawful to attribute an adopted child to oneself as if there were a biological relationship. This is because Islam seeks to safeguard biological lineages against confusion.
Allah Almighty says in the Qur’an about adopted children, “Call them by the names of their fathers: that is more just in the sight of Allah, but if you do not know their father’s names, (then they are) your brothers in faith, or your wards, but there is no blame on you if you make a mistake therein: (what counts is) the intention of your hearts.” (Al-Ahzab 33:5)
In Islamic Law, since adopted children retain their own family identity and do not assume that of their guardians, they may even marry from the families of their guardians. This is because the biological children of the guardians are not, in Islamic Law, the adopted child’s brothers and sisters, though they may have a close friendly relationship with each other.
One may even marry his/her adopted child if there is no other reason of prohibition such as through nursing.
Of course, a girl has to show her consent concerning the marriage as she should not be forced to marry neither her guardian nor anyone else.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.