As far as the concept of helping the poor and the orphan is concerned, Islam not only agrees to it but even highly recommends it. In all types of charities, the orphan and the poor are mentioned as the prime eligible recipients for such help. In case of the rights of the orphan children, Allâh is very severe; for example, He says,
“Those who `swallow' the property of the orphans unjustly, are actually devouring fire into their bellies and they shall enter the burning fire.” (4:10)
Islam fully supports the concept of helping the orphan and poor, and taking them under your wings. If there is no one to take care of the orphan and poor children, then this responsibility falls upon the Islamic government. I won’t be wrong in saying that as far as the concept of adoption is concerned, there is no difference between Islam and the West.
However, when we come to the implications and legal consequences of adoption, we find some differences between Islam and the present system in the West.
In the Western system, adoption does not only mean that a child is given into the care of another person or persons; it also means that the adopted child will carry the family name of the adoptive parent. For example, if a child named John Stuart Mill is adopted by Mr. William Bourassa, he will become John W. Bourassa. If this adoption took place in infancy, then most probably the child will never come to know his real genealogy or his real family name.
It is this part of the adoption procedure that Islam does not accept. In pre-Islamic Arabia, the adoption system was similar to what we now see in the West: the child even takes the family name of the adoptive father. When Islam came, it categorically rejected this procedure.
