Quantum Windbag
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- May 9, 2010
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This is interesting.
Apparently Sharia Law discourages adoption. They have a foster care like system that has no counterpart in Western law.
Muslim orphans caught between Islamic, Western law - Yahoo! News
Apparently Sharia Law discourages adoption. They have a foster care like system that has no counterpart in Western law.
Helene Lauffer knew Muslim children orphaned, displaced, neglected needed homes in the United States. She knew American Muslim families wanted to take them in. But Lauffer, associate executive director of Spence-Chapin, one of the oldest adoption agencies in the country, couldn't bring them together.
The problem was a gap between Western and Islamic law. Traditional, closed adoption violates Islamic jurisprudence, which stresses the importance of lineage. Instead, Islam has a guardianship system called kafalah that resembles foster care, yet has no exact counterpart in Western law.
The differences have left young Muslims with little chance of finding a permanent Muslim home in America. So Lauffer sought out a group of Muslim women scholars and activists, hoping they could at least start a discussion among U.S. Muslims about how adoption and Islamic law could become compatible.
"At the end of the day, it's about trying to find families for kids," said Lauffer.
Muslim orphans caught between Islamic, Western law - Yahoo! News