***** For other Fatawa, please click on the topics on the left *****



List Of Topics

فتاویٰ > Miscellaneous

Share |
f:535 -    Can the foster father name himself as the father of the foster children
 Country : Hyderabad, India,
Name : Hafiz Muhammad Abdul Qayyum
Question:     A certain lady who has children from a past husband has remarried.  Can the present husband write his own name as the father's name in the children's records, like school, etc.?
............................................................................
Answer:     In Islam the way parentage and paternity is stressed, in the same way, in the same way, it is also stressed that the children should be ascribed to their father alone.  It is forbidden to ascribe the paternal relation to somebody apart from the original i.e. biological father.  Almighty Allah says:

Call them (the adopted sons) after their fathers’ (names). That is most just in the sight of Allah.  Surah Ahzaab (33:5)

The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has given very strict warnings for the person who declares himself/herself to be someone's child other than the biological father.

Translation: It has been narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Sa'ad bin Abi Waqas (May Allah be well pleased with him), he says: I heard the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) say: Paradise is forbidden on that person who deliberately attributes his (or her) paternity to someone else than the biological father.  (Sahih Bukhari, Hadith No. 6766)

There is another Hadith in Sahih Bukhari:

Translation:  It has been narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be well pleased with him) that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  You don’t disown your fathers as the one who disowns his (or her) father, has disregarded a bounty of Allah Most High.

As asked, committing somebody else's name in the place where the father's name ought to be written is lies and deception and the sin becomes all the more grave when it is about someone's paternity.  The Shariah does not permit it at all.  Of course, the mother should give them a mother's love and the present husband should take care of them, raise them properly, instruct them and adorn them with education and should be so affectionate with them that they don’t feel the absence of a father.

And Allah Most High knows best.

Mufti Syed Ziauddin Naqshbandi

[Professor, Islamic Law, Jamia Nizamia,
Founder-Director, Abul Hasanaat Islamic Research Center]
All Right Reserved 2009 - ziaislamic.com