QUESTION:
What do the Scholars of the mighty shari’ah say regarding this case; I am pregnant with a child and as soon as the child is born, my husband and I would like to give the child to my husband’s sister. She will breastfeed the child and make the child her own. In place of the child’s father, the sister’s husband’s name will be added and it will also be like this on the child’s birth certificate. Is this allowed in shari’ah?
Questioner – Sister from England
ANSWER:
بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب
Giving your child to your husband’s sister to adopt is allowed and her breastfeeding the child is also allowed. However in place of the child’s original father, using the sister’s husband’s name and writing this on the birth certificate, etc. is absolutely not allowed, harām and against the teachings of the Qur’ān. As Allāh Almighty states in the Qur’ān,
{اُدْعُوۡہُمْ لِاٰبَآئِہِمْ ہُوَ اَقْسَطُ عِنۡدَ اللہِ}
(Call them (i.e. adopted children) with their (biological) father’s names; this is more justified according to Allāh)
[Sūrah al-Ahzāb, 5]
Removing the original father’s name from the birth certificate and writing the sister’s husband’s name is as though the child is being ascribed to someone other than the actual father; this is not allowed and deserving of the curse of Allāh, the Angels and the whole of mankind.
As it is stated in the Hadīth,
“مَنِ ادَّعٰی اِلٰی غَیْرِ اَبِیْہِ فَعَلَیْہِ لَعْنَۃُ اﷲِ وَالْمَلٰئِکَۃِ وَالنَّاسِ اَجْمَعِیْنَ لَا یَقْبَلُ اللہُ مِنْہُ صَرفًا وَّلاَ عَدْلًا”
“Whosoever leaves his own father and ascribes himself to another, on this person is the curse of Allāh Almighty, Angels and the whole of mankind; Allāh Almighty will not accept his voluntary deeds nor his obligatory deeds.”
[Kanz al-‘Ummāl, vol 6, pg 78, Hadīth 15309]
In the second Hadīth it is stated,
“من ادعی الی غیرا بیہ فالجنۃ علیہ حرام”
“Whoever ascribes themselves to someone other than their own father; Paradise is harām upon this person.”
[Sahīh al-Bukhārī, 2/619 & Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 1/57]
It is stated in Fatāwā Faiz al-Rasūl when this is the warning for someone who attributes themselves to someone other than their own father; then more deserving of this warning is that person who ascribes someone else to a person other than that person’s own father.
[Fatāwā Faiz al-Rasūl, vol 2, pg 714]
Therefore you can give your child into your sister’s custody, however the certificate, etc. should have the original father’s name written and the child should also be ascribed to the original father.
واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم
کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری
Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadri
Translated by Hamza Hussain
Read the original Urdu answer here – [Q-ID0303] I will pass my newborn baby to my sister to adopt and take care of, is this okay?
Also see:
[Q-ID0823] Can I use my name as a surname for my adopted son?
[Q-ID0302] I’ve been divorced and I’m now married to someone else, can I change my child’s surname?
[Q-ID0091] Is it okay for me to change my surname to my husbands after marriage?
[Q-ID0455] Is it necessary to have our Father’s name as our surname?
