Want to Abopt a Baby in the USA
We'd like to become parents
My husband and I are happily married and reside in Minnesota, USA. We still have a sense of emptiness and desperately would like to provide a loving home and family to a Muslim baby. We understand that adoption is not allowed in Islam but I can't seem to settle with the thought that providing a loving home to an innocent baby could be bad. For our religion (Islam) we would love to provide help to a needy mom. A baby is a baby no matter what is their religion. We are planning to adopt anyways, but I thought I would put our wish to adopt a Muslim baby on the site - and hopefully can help someone out. We will bear the legal fee and medical fee if needed.
I know that I will have lots of people critique my post. The only thing I have to say is a couple who is desperate to fill their empty nest will understand our pain.
-Want2Adopt
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Aslamalaikum
This site may help
http://islam.about.com/cs/parenting/a/adoption.htm
Personally i think its a really good idea and insh'allah you will be rewarded for your deed
Thanks
salaam
My dear sister where did you read that it is not allowed for you to adopt and if in the Quran, which I dought can yo pin point the iaath please, because as far as I am aware there is nothing wrong with that and it is encouraged in fact I think that it is even better then spending £00,000 on IVF and other treatments, you would be better rewarded adopting, becoming parents is a blessing from Allah tala regardless of which ever way you become a parent
I am sure that the editors will in time give light with a full explanation with iaaths from the Quran and hadise
inshallah
jazakala khair
I understood from your post that you wish to adopt someone through this website, and that is impossible. We are not an adoption service, and we do not allow exchange of personal contact information. I encourage you to go through the regular adoption channels. You might also consider adopting a child from a Muslim country that has suffered from wars or natural disasters; there are millions of orphans who need fostering.
Adoption is not haram. In fact caring for an orphan is considered a highly meritorious deed in Islam. Allah says in the Quran,
"And they feed, for the love of Allah, the poor, the orphan, and the captive..." Surat al-Insaan
The Messenger of Allah (sws) said, "I and the caretaker of the orphan will enter Paradise together like this." - raising (by way of illustration) his forefinger and middle finger jointly, leaving no space in between. [Saheeh al-Bukhaari]
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Sponsoring an orphan means taking care of his religious and worldly interests, teaching him and guiding him etc with regard to religious matters, and taking care of his food, drink, shelter and other worldly concerns. [Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen, 5/113]
However, adoption in Islam does not take the same form as the Western model. There are certain conditions or restrictions, including:
1. The adopted child should retain his own surname, rather than take the adoptive family's name.
2. The adopted child should be aware that he is adopted and should know his own lineage if possible.
3. If the biological family is known, the ties with them should be maintained.
4. The adopted child will not automatically inherit from the adoptive family; however they can designate up to 1/3 of their wealth to the adopted child if they choose. Rather, he inherits from his biological parents (if possible).
5. If the adopted child has his own wealth or property, it must be kept separate from the adoptive family's fund and held in trust for the child until maturity.
6. Upon reaching maturity, the adopted child must be considered non-mahrem and appropriate conduct followed. However, if he was adopted as an infant and nursed by the adoptive mother, she would be his foster mother and therefore a mahrem.
Sister Amy has previously pointed out that, "in the US, adoptions can be open or closed. An open adoption would easily fit all the Islamic provisions described above, and are often recommended unless the child's wellbeing is in question. Adoption often ensures a permanent situation for children in foster care, who are always at risk (at least here in the states) of being re-assigned due to various reasons. For that reason, a lot of couples foster parent first, and then perhaps adopt a foster child if they have made a special bond with them."
It's dangerous to spread this creed of "adoption is haram." The Muslim world is full of millions of hungry orphans. There are very few deeds better than adopting one of these orphans and caring for him/her.
Wael
IslamicAnswers.com Editor
jazakallah brother wael,
this is so informative .
As-salamu Alaykum,
This is a very good response that contains important information for those interested in adopting. Over the years, I have heard many Muslims proclaim that adoption is haram. This hardly makes sense considering the great rewards that come with sponsoring orphans in Islam. Do people really think it is better to leave orphans in orphanages or (worse) on the street when they could instead be raised by a caring Muslim family? I think that perhaps people get confused by the logistics of how to handle mahrem issues when dealing with older children. Would be great if someone wrote about this more extensively to demonstrate how it is possible to handle these issues in today's world. As mentioned above, breasteeding an infant is one solution. What are others?
Sister, there is a lawyer by the name of Faisal Kutty who has provided a very good analysis of of how the "western" adoption scheme is in fact Islamically permissible. He has recently written an article at jurist.org on this very subject -- try to look it up. I'm not sure how you can get in touch with him, but he is a professor at Valparaiso University School of Law in Indiana as well as Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. I'm sure if you go on the website for either law school, you will find a contact address.
I wish I had known about this a few years ago, when I , too, contemplated adoption, but my family was very much against it for religious reasons and they did not like the fact that I would be a single mother. So I gave up. Its now too late for me, but I am always encouraging others not to buy in to some of the religious-cultural myths that our elders impose on us. If you want to be a parent, then follow that dream.
Good luck! I'm sure it will all work out for you!
As-salamu Alaykum,
I am interested in reading the article you mentioned. Also, it is interesting that you mention being a single mother. I was thinking that perhaps being single could actually be a benefit in some cases because it would more easily allow a woman to raise a girl and a man to raise a boy without the complications that may arise from children living with non-mahrems. Perhaps this would be more suited to single people who, for whatever reason, do not intend to marry in the near future. A married couple might hesitate to adopt a teen girl, for example, but a single woman could take on this task for the few years it would take to see the girl to adulthood and her own independence. I am not saying it is wrong for married couples to adopt. Rather I am trying to think of solutions to the issue of living with non-mahrems as this seems to discourage many Muslims from taking on the responsibility of adoption.
Salaams,
I would just like to add that from what I've heard, adopting a child who is a US citizen is a much more lengthy, expensive and scrutinizing process than adopting a child from another country. Also, for the record, you do not necessarily need to adopt a child from a Muslim mother or couple; ANY child can be raised in Islam. As a matter of fact, Islam teaches that every person is born into Islam, but it is the teaching of parents who practice other faiths who change the true fitra of an infant. Any child eligible for adoption (whether they are in the US or somewhere else in the world) would be blessed to have parents who are loving and rightly guided such as yourselves.
-Amy
IslamicAnswers.com Editor
Thought you might like this piece on Islamic Law and Adoption. You will need to download the full 44 page article from the abstract page http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2457066
Islamic Law and Adoptions
Faisal Kutty
Valparaiso University Law School
June 20, 2014
Forthcoming in Robert L. Ballard et al., The Intercountry Adoption Debate: Dialogues Across Disciplines (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014)
Valparaiso University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 14-5
Abstract:
Throughout history, adoption has held a contentious and ambiguous role in the social imagination of many cultures. Adoption is a complex social, legal, and economic phenomenon that has existed in one form or another in most societies since ancient history. Religion has served to both advance and restrict adoption and similar childcare arrangements. Some religions have encouraged adoptions, others have initially been interpreted to restrict them, and yet others continue to restrict or advocate alternative arrangements.
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. Adoption rights activists—and prospective adopters—have struggled to find ways around the difficulties this simple binary view causes for the millions of children around the world who could benefit from a loving home. With increasing numbers of abandoned and orphaned children and a growing number of hurdles, there is now an added urgency to tackle this issue. It is beyond the scope of this chapter to grapple with all of the nuances and issues raised by adoption in Islam. The goal of this chapter is more modest. It is to contribute to a better understanding of Islamic views on adoptions, provide insights into some of the tensions and points of convergence, lay groundwork to help in bridging the gap, and fill the existing void in properly caring for orphans, abandoned children, and children of unknown parentage consistent with contemporary notions of child welfare and the spirit of the Sharia. Part I provides a basic background on Islamic law, its sources, principles and methodology for development and evolution. Part II sets out a description of adoption and alternatives under classical Islamic law as understood and accepted by the orthodox Sunni community. Part III explores and highlights the areas of tension and convergence with modern western conceptions of adoption and child welfare. The chapter then concludes with some parting thoughts.
The chapter demonstrates that there is sufficient basis in Islamic jurisprudence to argue for qualified support of international adoptions. It is undeniable that taking care of orphans and foundlings is a religious obligation. 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. 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.