Short answer: raising a child who is not your own is allowed and highly rewarded in Islam. It is called kafala, sponsorship and care. What Islam does not allow is adoption in the sense of erasing the child's lineage. The child keeps the name of their birth father, is not automatically a mahram, and does not inherit a fixed share, though you can leave them up to a third of your estate by will. In the Hanafi school, if the adoptive mother or her close relative nurses the baby within the first two years, the child becomes a milk relative and the questions of hijab and mahram fall away.
What the Quran says about adoption
Before Islam, Arabs adopted children as full sons, with a new name, a share in inheritance and the full family status. The Quran kept the care and ended the fiction:
مَّا جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِرَجُلٍۢ مِّن قَلْبَيْنِ فِى جَوْفِهِۦ ۚ وَمَا جَعَلَ أَزْوَٰجَكُمُ ٱلَّٰٓـِٔى تُظَٰهِرُونَ مِنْهُنَّ أُمَّهَٰتِكُمْ ۚ وَمَا جَعَلَ أَدْعِيَآءَكُمْ أَبْنَآءَكُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ قَوْلُكُم بِأَفْوَٰهِكُمْ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ يَقُولُ ٱلْحَقَّ وَهُوَ يَهْدِى ٱلسَّبِيلَ
Maa ja'alal laahu lirajulim min qalbaini fee jawfih; wa maa ja'ala azwaajakumul laaa'ee tuzaahiroona minhunna ummahaatikum; wa maa ja'ala ad'iyaaa'akum abnaaa'akum; zaalikum qawlukum bi afwaa hikum wallaahu yaqoolul haqqa wa Huwa yahdis sabeel
"Allah has not made for a man two hearts in his interior. And He has not made your wives whom you declare unlawful your mothers. And he has not made your adopted sons your [true] sons. That is [merely] your saying by your mouths, but Allah says the truth, and He guides to the [right] way."
Quran 33:4 · translation by Sahih International
ٱدْعُوهُمْ لِءَابَآئِهِمْ هُوَ أَقْسَطُ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ فَإِن لَّمْ تَعْلَمُوٓا۟ ءَابَآءَهُمْ فَإِخْوَٰنُكُمْ فِى ٱلدِّينِ وَمَوَٰلِيكُمْ ۚ وَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌۭ فِيمَآ أَخْطَأْتُم بِهِۦ وَلَٰكِن مَّا تَعَمَّدَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًۭا رَّحِيمًا
Ud'oohum li aabaaa'ihim huwa aqsatu 'indal laah; fa illam ta'lamooo aabaaa'ahum fa ikhwaanukum fid deeni wa mawaaleekum; wa laisa 'alaikum junaahun feemaaa akhtaatum bihee wa laakim maa ta'ammadat quloobukum; wa kaanal laahu Ghafoorar Raheemaa
"Call them by [the names of] their fathers; it is more just in the sight of Allah. But if you do not know their fathers - then they are [still] your brothers in religion and those entrusted to you. And there is no blame upon you for that in which you have erred but [only for] what your hearts intended. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful."
Quran 33:5 · translation by Sahih International
Notice how gentle the verse is. If the father is unknown, the child is still "your brothers in religion and those entrusted to you". Honest mistakes are forgiven. Only deliberately hiding a child's origin is blamed.
The story of Zayd ibn Harithah
Zayd was captured as a boy, sold in Makkah, and given to the Prophet ﷺ by Khadijah. When his father found him, Zayd chose to stay with the Prophet ﷺ, who freed him and declared him his son. People called him Zayd ibn Muhammad until Quran 33:5 was revealed, and from then on he was Zayd ibn Harithah again.1 He is the only Companion named in the Quran (33:37). The verse also explains that the Prophet ﷺ married Zaynab after her marriage to Zayd ended "in order that there not be upon the believers any discomfort concerning the wives of their adopted sons". The love between the Prophet ﷺ and Zayd did not change. Only the name went back to the truth.
The reward for caring for a child
أَنَا وَكَافِلُ الْيَتِيمِ فِي الْجَنَّةِ هَكَذَا
Ana wa kāfilul-yatīmi fil-jannati hākadhā
"I and the one who sponsors an orphan will be in Paradise like this," and he held up his index and middle fingers with a little space between them.
Sahih al-Bukhari, from Sahl ibn Sa'd
The Quran commands kindness to orphans again and again: "So as for the orphan, do not oppress [him]" (Quran 93:9), and when asked about orphans, "Improvement for them is best. And if you mix your affairs with theirs - they are your brothers" (Quran 2:220). Scholars apply the same reward to caring for any child without parents to look after them: a foundling, a child in foster care, or a relative's child whose parents cannot cope.
Kafala and adoption: the difference
| Adoption (old Arab or modern legal sense) | Kafala in Islam | |
|---|---|---|
| Raising, love and care | Yes | Yes, and highly rewarded |
| The child's surname | Changed to the new family's | Keeps the birth father's name |
| Knowing the birth family | Often hidden | Never hidden from the child |
| Mahram status | Treated as a blood child | Not mahram, unless nursed within two years |
| Inheritance | Inherits like a blood child | No fixed share; up to a third by will, and gifts in life |
| Marriage | Treated as a sibling | Could marry the family's children, unless a milk relation exists |
The rulings, step by step
1. The child's name
All the schools agree: the child is called by their birth father's name. The Prophet ﷺ warned that whoever knowingly claims a father other than his own, Paradise is forbidden to him.2 You can give a first name, and the child can use your family name as a nickname or a household name, as long as official records and the child themselves know the true lineage. If the father is unknown, a general name such as "ibn Abdullah" (son of a servant of Allah) is often used.
2. Mahram status and hijab
Without a milk relation, an adopted boy is not a mahram to his adoptive mother and sisters, and an adopted girl is not a mahram to her adoptive father and brothers. While they are small this changes nothing. From puberty the normal rules of awrah and hijab apply between them, and they would be allowed to marry each other.
3. Nursing within the first two years
This is why many families arrange for the baby to be nursed. The Prophet ﷺ said: "What is forbidden by lineage is forbidden by nursing."3
Any amount of milk that reaches the baby's stomach within the nursing period makes the child a milk child of the woman. Abu Hanifa set the period at thirty months; his two students, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad, set it at two lunar years, and many later Hanafi scholars give the fatwa on two years. The child becomes mahram to her, to her husband whose milk it is, and to their relatives, so marriage between them is forbidden and hijab is not needed. Nursing gives no right of inheritance.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i, Hanbali
- Only five separate, full feedings within the first two years make the milk relation, based on the hadith of Aishah in Sahih Muslim.
- Maliki
- Any amount, as in the Hanafi school, within the first two years or very shortly after.
Some adoptive mothers induce milk with medical help. Scholars explain that the child then becomes her milk child, and so a stepchild of her husband through nursing, which is also a mahram relation once the marriage has been consummated (Quran 4:23 lists stepdaughters among those forbidden in marriage). A sister of the adoptive father or mother can also nurse the baby, which makes the child a milk nephew or niece of that parent. Confirm your exact case with a scholar.
4. Inheritance and the will
An adopted child does not inherit a fixed share, because the shares in Quran 4:11 to 12 follow lineage and marriage. You can still provide for them in two ways, agreed by all the schools:
- A bequest (wasiyyah) of up to one third of your estate. It is valid without the heirs' consent; more than a third needs the heirs to agree after your death. Write it into an Islamic will.
- Gifts during your life, such as a house, savings or education, with no limit, as long as you are in good health and not trying to cut out your heirs.
The inheritance calculator shows how the rest of an estate is shared.
5. A foundling
In the Hanafi school, picking up an abandoned child (laqit) is recommended, and becomes obligatory if the child would otherwise die. The child is free, of unknown lineage, and is raised as a Muslim when found in a Muslim land. If the finder cannot pay for the child's needs, the public treasury should.
Legal adoption in the US, UK and elsewhere
In many Western countries the only way to give a child permanent security is a legal adoption order, which changes the birth certificate and gives the child inheritance rights under the law. Many contemporary scholars allow a Muslim family to take a legal adoption or long-term fostering route for the child's welfare, on the conditions that the family keeps a record of the birth lineage, tells the child the truth, keeps the Islamic rules of mahram, and writes an Islamic will so the estate is shared by Islamic rules rather than the civil default. In the UAE and much of the Muslim world, kafala itself is the legal route. Ask a local scholar and a family lawyer together.
Raising an adopted child well
- Tell them early, in words they understand, that Allah gave them two families. A child who learns the truth late often feels deceived.
- Keep ties with the birth family where it is safe. The Quran honours ties of the womb (Quran 4:1).
- Treat them equally with your other children in love and in gifts. The Prophet ﷺ told parents to be fair between their children.
- Make dua for them, as the prophets did for their children. See the dua for children.
FAQ
Is adoption haram in Islam?
No. Taking in and raising a child is allowed and greatly rewarded. What is not allowed is changing the child's lineage, so the child keeps the birth father's name and is not treated as a blood relative in mahram and inheritance rules.
Can an adopted child take my surname?
Not as if you were the birth father. The Quran says "Call them by [the names of] their fathers" (33:5). The child's records should show the true lineage, though a household or family name used as a nickname is tolerated by many scholars.
Can an adopted child inherit from me?
Not a fixed share, but you can leave them up to one third of your estate in your will, and give them gifts during your life.
Does an adopted child become a mahram?
Not by adoption alone. In the Hanafi school, if the adoptive mother or one of her close relatives nurses the child within the first two years, even a small amount, the child becomes a milk relative and a mahram.
What is kafala in Islam?
Kafala is sponsoring and raising a child who needs care, providing for them like your own while keeping their lineage, name and inheritance rules as Islam sets them. It is the Islamic alternative to full adoption.
Sources
- Sahih al-Bukhari, from Ibn Umar, on Quran 33:5.
- Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, from Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas and Abu Bakrah.
- Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, from Aishah and Ibn Abbas.
- Hanafi rulings: al-Marghinani, al-Hidayah (Kitab al-Rada', Kitab al-Laqit, Kitab al-Wasaya); Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar. The other schools are summarised from their standard manuals.
- SeekersGuidance, "The fiqh of adoption" (Hanafi fiqh answers).
- Quran 33:4, 33:5, 33:37, 93:9 and 2:220, translation by Sahih International.
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.