Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalam alakum

Dear Brother

1) My aunt has adopted a baby boy (1 yrs old) from orphanage centre because they cant have their own kids. So can my aunt perform HAJ or UMRAH with him when he comes in the age of 15? and can he become the mahram to my aunt?

please reply my Question?

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Answer:

Adopt child and mehram

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 177:

177    It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces toward East or West; but it is righteousness to believe in Allah, and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance out of love for Him for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer and practice regular charity; to fulfill the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient in pain (or suffering) and adversity and throughout all periods of panic.  Such are the people of truth, the Allah-fearing.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 215:

215    They ask thee (O Prophet (saws) what they should spend (in charity).  Say: ‘Whatever ye spend that is good is for parents and kindred and orphans and those in want and for wayfarers.  And whatever ye do that is good Allah Knows it well.’

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 36:

36      Serve Allah and join not any partners with Him: and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the way-farer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess: for Allah loves not the arrogant, the vainglorious.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 78 Surah Dhahr verses 5-11:

5        As to the Righteous they shall drink of a Cup (of Pure Wine) mixed with ‘Kafur’

6        A Fountain where the devotees of Allah do drink, making it flow in unstinted abundance.

7        They perform (their) vows, and they fear a Day whose evil flies far and wide.

8        And they feed for the love of Allah the indigent, the orphan, and the captive

9        (Saying) "We feed you for the sake of Allah Alone: No reward do we desire from you nor thanks.

10      We only fear a Day of distressful Wrath from the side of our Lord."

11      But Allah will deliver them from the evil of that Day, and will shed over them a light of Beauty and a (Blissful) Joy.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 4974        Narrated by Abu Umamah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "If anyone strokes an orphan's head, doing so only for Allah's Sake, he will have blessings for every hair over which his hand passes; and if anyone treats well an orphan girl or boy under his care, he and I (Prophet Mohamed (saws)) shall be like these two in Paradise," putting two of his fingers together!

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 4973        Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "The best house among the Muslims is one which contains an orphan who is well treated, and the worst house among the Muslims is one which contains an orphan who is badly treated."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 8.34 Narrated by Sahl bin Sad

The Prophet (saws) said, "I and the person who looks after an orphan and provides for him, will be in Paradise like this," putting his index and middle fingers together.”

Because the relationship of blood in Islamic Law has obvious ties towards marriage, inheritance, etc.; there are certain guidelines in Islam a believer who wishes to adopt must follow:

1. The child will always be called by his/her biological father’s name.
2. The child will only inherit from his original blood-relationship.   He will not be eligible to inherit from his foster-parents.  The foster-parents who adopt the child have the option to will or bequeath upto a maximum of one/third of their wealth to their adopted children after their death, if they wish to do so.
3. If the foster-mother has nursed the adopted child in her infancy, then she will be considered a mehram of the child; but if the foster-mother has not nursed the adopted child, then she will not be considered a mehram of the adopted child.

Your Question: ….and can he become the mahram to my aunt?

As noble, meritorious and encouraged is the act of adoption in Islam, if your aunt happens to adopt an infant born baby boy…..that baby will remain a non-mehram unto your aunt unless and until the baby sucks milk from the breast of your aunt during its age of infancy….for then a lawful and sacred mehram and foster-relationship will be established between your aunt and this adopted baby.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 3.815         Narrated by Aisha

Once the Prophet (saws) came to me while a man was in my house. He (saws) said, "O 'Aisha! Who is this (man)?"  I replied, "My foster brother."  He (saws) said, "O 'Aisha! Be sure about your foster brothers, as fostership is only valid if it takes place in the suckling period (before two years of age)."

Al-Muwatta Hadith 30.4

Yahya related from Malik from Thawr ibn Zayd ad-Dili that Abdullah ibn Abbas (r.a.) said, "The milk which a child under two years old sucks, even if it is only one suck, makes the foster relatives ‘haram’ (sacred)."

If the adopted baby boy is not suckled in its infancy by your aunt….then the boy will remain a non-mehram unto your aunt, and all the restriction that apply between two non-mehrams in Shariah will have to be honored in their relationship.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan