One could consider, in several respects, the revelation of the Quran to be religiously and ethically revolutionary – first, for the inhabitants of seventh-century Arabia, then to the lands which the Message spread. However, the Quran remains a revolutionary text to this day. One area where this is acutely the case is in its treatment of orphans. While there are several prophetic “traditions,” called hadith, or reports attributed to Prophet Muhammad, which include exhortations to good treatment of orphans, they do not come near the ethical richness with which the Quran regards orphans. So, this paper seeks to highlight some of those revolutionary aspects, which, in many ways, even in Muslim practice, are not being applied as radically as they could. This is especially important in the context of increased attention being demanded by those who are orphans and adoptees to address the injustices they have faced at the hands of adoption agencies, adopted families, and society at large – particularly those people adopted in/to the West.
Todd Lawson argues that the Quran can be read in at least two ways: in its ‘canonical’ order, (that is, the order in which we find bound copies of the Quran) it constitutes an Epic: a story of humanity from start to end, in a sense. But, he argues, read in revelation order (that is, the surahs or chapters of the Quran being read in the order they were revealed by God to the Prophet), it constitutes an apocalypse: yes, a revelation quite literally, but a jarring one. The life of the Prophet Muhammad begins in Mecca. Deducible from the Quran, is that this environment had several ethical crisis, stemming primarily from people not believing in God and the Last Day. In other words, if one is not fearful that God will hold one responsible for his actions in this life and the Hereafter, one has given himself an undue free-reign to mistreat anyone he wishes, and extract as much wealth, power, and enjoyment from the world as he can—leaving the vulnerable, quite literally, in the dust (90:16).
Orphans are mentioned in twelve different chapters of the Quran (2, 4, 6, 8, 17, 18, 59, 76, 89, 90, 93, 107). The trilateral Arabic root, y t m, (yateem – orphan) occurs twenty-three times throughout the Quran—mostly in Meccan surahs, but also in those reveled later, in Medina).
The ethics of orphan care in the Quran involve several important aspects. One of the most emphasized aspects of these in the Quran is not misappropriating their wealth. The Quran lays out inheritance laws in the begging of the fourth chapter, called “the Women.” In so doing, it inherently guarantees the rights of children who have lost either or both parents to a significant portion of what they have left behind. Their relatives, those responsible for dividing the assets, must make sure to give the kids what is due to them. However, within the verses on inheritance, is a stern warning: “those who consume the orphans’ wealth illicitly consume fire into their bellies, and they will roast in a Blaze.” (4:10) This could be applied beyond inheritance as well, to things such as the misuse of donation funds. The threat is that though one may be able to physically and mentally overpower a young, grieving child, one will not be able to escape God’s punishment for it, and God does not take kindly to the abuse of the vulnerable. This emphasis highlights the concern of the Supreme Being with individuals who in their society may have been seen as worth less than a sneeze—unless their was money to be stolen off them. This takes them from the margins of society, to the center of the religious world. This is evident as well in surah 107, one of the earliest revealed, which connects mistreatment of orphans and refusal to feed the poor to denial of God and the Last Day, which is a crime punishable by Hell. The issue of wealth is not one that is highlighted very often by those adopted in/to the West, as the lines are often cut between birth families and adopted families, making it nearly impossible for children to have not only inheritance from their parents, but items such as mementos and heirlooms. But, with donations, fees of adoption, and, especially, funds given by the government to foster families, the Quranic ethics of treatment of the wealth of orphans remains informative and relevant.
The Quran addresses the question of adoption as well, even if the word itself does not exist in the text. The ethical exhortation is to take care of orphans and abandoned children, but, in a rather shocking event, the Prophet himself is reprimanded by God in the 33rd chapter of the Quran for referring to his adopted son as his son. This young man, Zayd ( the only contemporary of the Prophet honored with a mention by name in the Quran) was reportedly and implicitly referred to as “son of Muhammad,” in his patronym. But God interjects in Medina. He says: “call them by their fathers, it is more just with God.” (33:5). One of the most painful things that adoptees have been highlighting is their connections with their birth families and communities being forcibly cut off in adoptions—going as far as placing the adopted parents on the birth certificates. Judging Quranically, this practice is an utter ethical disaster. Knowing who ones family is is implicitly a treasured and essential piece of information for a human in these verses—even if one does not have the ability to live among their family (due to loss or other factors). Therefore, even if it does not resolve the trauma of losing parents, being abandoned, or being adopted, simply knowing where one is from, and who one descends from (for identity reasons but also medical ones) is invaluable.
Adoptees have increasingly been speaking out about unjust adoption practices and adoption trauma. Social media has been instrumental to getting these stories out and pushing back against years of pain caused by unethical adoption practices. The Quran, believed by Muslims to be revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad—himself and orphan—in 7th century Arabia—preempts some of these concerns. This paper argues that the Quran contains an ethically revolutionary way of thinking about orphanhood and adoption, emphasizing not only the necessity of good treatment of the vulnerable, but also the importance of preserving their family names and identities--a major concern of adoptees today. In this way, it is a useful resource to consider ethical advancement in the way adoptees are treated in society, ideally contributing to a way forward in dismantling the for-profit adoption industry.