Wants to embrace Islam and asks about her adopted children
14-8-2006 | IslamWeb
Question:
assalamu 3alaikum if a women hase childeren who sche adopted wen they were little, and now disides to become muslim. can sche live with them, hug and touch them sinds they are not here real childeren, and therefore not mahram.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
We have already issued Fatwa 84422 clarifying that a person who fosters a child who is not a Mahram (i.e. a spouse or person whom one is permanently prohibited from marrying due to suckling, marital, or blood relations), then the child is marriageable to the person who cultivated him/her and the child does not become a Mahram just because of being nurtured by someone unless there is a suckling relationship which fulfils the conditions, (the suckling should be done within the age of two years and the child should have suckled at least five times). Therefore, if this woman suckled each of those children five times when they were young within the age of two years, then she is their suckling mother and all the rulings of being a Mahram apply to them except the inheritance. However, if she did not suckle them and there is no family lineage between them and her, then it is not permissible for her to be in seclusion with any of them when they reach the age of puberty, and she is not allowed to shake hands with them, let alone hugging them. However, she gets the reward for cultivating them, Allaah willing.
Finally, we advise this woman to embrace Islam as Allaah does not accept any other religion, and she should know that by embracing Islam, she saves herself from the punishment (of Hellfire). She should also be keen on calling those children to Islam as Allaah may save them from the punishment on the Day of Judgement, thanks to her, in the same way she saved them in this life from poverty and form being spoilt and going astray.
Furthermore, anyone who knows this woman should encourage her to embrace Islam and clarify to her the bounties of the Islamic legislation. In doing so, one may seek the help of the Imaams and callers to Allaah who are righteous and pious.
For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 82371.
Allaah Knows best.