Attributing adopted children to their adopted parents
Question
My big brother passed away. I adopted his son. Can I use my name as his father as the child does not know about my big brother he only know that I am his father?
Answer
The Quraan Shareef instructs that we attribute the lineage of each person to his/her (Islamic) biological legitimate father. Hence it is impermissible to attribute the son to yourself.
References (Arabic / Urdu sources)
ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْ هُوَ أَقْسَطُ عِندَ اللَّـهِ فَإِن لَّمْ تَعْلَمُوا آبَاءَهُمْ فَإِخْوَانُكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَمَوَالِيكُمْ وَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا أَخْطَأْتُم بِهِ وَلَـٰكِن مَّا تَعَمَّدَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ وَكَانَ اللَّـهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا ﴿الأحزاب: ٥﴾
- Answered by
- Mufti Zakaria Makada
- Checked & approved by
- Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)
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