When Is Adoption Allowed, and What Are the Conditions?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul Sami‘ al-Yaqti

Question

When is adoption permissible, and what are its conditions?

Answer

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Blessings and peace be upon the Master of the Messengers, his Family, and all his Companions.

Meaning

Before explaining the ruling on adoption, we must clarify its intended meaning. As the scholars have mentioned, adoption refers to a person taking another’s child as their own, attributing the child to them, and naming the child after them.

The Sacred Law uses another term to denote the same meaning: claiming parentage (addi‘a’), and the adopted child is referred to as a “claimed child (da‘i).” [al-Mawsu‘a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaytiyya]

Adoption before Islam

This practice was well-known in the pre-Islamic period and was commonly practiced until Islam came and prohibited it with the revelation of Surat al-Ahzab. Allah (Most High) says:

“Nor does He regard your adopted children as your real children. These are only your baseless assertions. But Allah declares the truth, and He (alone) guides to the (Right) Way. Let your adopted children keep their family names. That is more just in the sight of Allah. But if you do not know their fathers, then they are (simply) your fellow believers and close associates.” [Quran, 33:4-5]

These verses were revealed concerning the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and his adopted son Zayd Ibn Haritha (Allah be pleased with him). Tabari mentions:

“Allah’s statement:

‘Let your adopted children keep their family names’ means: attribute your adopted children, whose lineages you have connected to yourselves, to their actual fathers.

Allah (Most High) commands His Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) to restore Zayd’s lineage to his father, Haritha, and not to call him Zayd Ibn Muhammad. Allah says:

‘That is more just in the sight of Allah,’ meaning: calling them by their fathers’ names is fairer and more truthful before Allah than attributing them to someone who is not their father.” [Tabari, Tafsir al-Tabari]

To further emphasize the prohibition of adoption, Allah (Most High) married the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) to Zaynab (Allah be pleased with her), who had previously been married to Zayd. Allah (Most High) says in the same sura:

“So when Zayd totally lost interest in (keeping) his wife, We gave her to you in marriage, so that there would be no blame on the believers for marrying the ex-wives of their adopted sons after their divorce. And Allah’s command is totally binding.​” [Quran, 33:37]

Furthermore, the hadiths also emphasize and intensify the prohibition of adoption. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

“Whoever claims to belong to someone other than his father, knowing that he is not his father, then Paradise is forbidden for him.” [Bukhari; Muslim]

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) also said:

“One of the gravest lies is for a man to claim lineage to someone other than his father.” [Bukhari]

Conditions

Thus, adoption in the sense we have described is prohibited. However, if the questioner is not referring to this meaning and instead is asking about, for example, sponsoring orphans and raising them with one’s children, or sponsoring a homeless child, then there is no harm in doing so, provided the following conditions are met:

• The child is not named after the sponsor or attributed to them, but rather retains their original name and family lineage;
• There must be documentation from the relevant authorities to ensure proper supervision and protection of rights;
• There should be no inheritance between the two, although there is no harm in leaving a bequest within the limits prescribed by Islamic Law;
• The child should be treated as a non-mahram—whether male or female—in matters such as hijab, looking, seeking permission, seclusion, marriage, and so on.

In this way, one can reconcile the prohibition of adoption that confuses lineage with the Islamic principle of social solidarity and caring for orphans and the needy. This is one of the profound wisdoms and objectives of the Sacred Law, which came to preserve and safeguard these principles.

Summary

You can sponsor and care for an orphan, a needy person, or a homeless child, or even raise a child in case of infertility, but with the condition that the matters mentioned above are observed. And Allah knows best.

And Allah knows best.
[Shaykh] Abdul Sami‘ al-Yaqti