Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
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.
In Islam, the term “adoption” does not have the same connotation as the one you have in non-Muslim cultures. In Islam, we'd rather use the term kafalah, which means sponsoring and guardianship, while preserving the child’s original name and the child’s full awareness of the whereabouts of his family, if present. This kafalah system may take place while the child is in his own home, in an orphanage, or with an alternative family, and undoubtedly, a family atmosphere is better than an institution. This system is carried out under the firm supervision and follow-up of the concerned governmental departments. kafalah is primarily for orphans, but it may extend to cover children in need. Indeed, Prophet Muhammad himself sponsored a poor little cousin in his (the Prophet's) own house.
Although the history of Islam states the reasons for kafalah as a child being poor and needy or a child being an orphan, I agree with you that kafalah is an alternative safe haven for an abused child. This may be a third reason, one that was unknown in history, but modern life has, unfortunately, imposed on us!
There are certain conditions that should be taken into consideration when putting a child into the kafalah of another family:
1. The extended family—grandparents, uncles, aunts—should have priority for this task.
2. The original full name of the child should be preserved and not changed to the name of the host family.
3. The child should be taken in by a family which has the same religion and is known for its moral standards—kafalah should not be a back door for missionary activities.
