Middle East, Islam & Adoption

The Middle East is one of the top two most difficult places to adopt a child from.

Many Muslim countries have no legal process for adoption and do not allow inter country adoptions. This is why there are few Arab children adopted into the United States.

Because of the strong relationships between natal and extended families in the Middle East children that are left orphaned are usually quickly absorbed into the extended family. 

The belief in taking in orphaned children being as a good this is in Islam. In Islam the Prophet Muhammad [570-632] was an foster parent to children of his wives, and to Zaid bin Haritha. Zaid had been gifted as a slave to Muhammad, who freed him and adopted him.

Muhammad himself was an orphan, his father and mother died and he was raised by his uncle Abu Talib.

The Islamic word for adoption is kafâla, it means foster parenting or sponsoring. In Islamic adoption there are three significant differences than in a legal adoption: denial or acknowledgement of identity by blood lineage, inheritance, and implications for the possibilities of marriage partners.

Occasionally a family that already has several children will adopt their child out to a childless relative who can better afford to care for them. This expands the child's family network and provides them added support by having two sets of parents.

Islamic children in the Middle East can not be adopted because that would require them changing their identity, because of their marriage patterns it is important for a child to be aware of what their true linage is in order to not marry in some taboo way. Also if a child were to be truly adopted into another family the linage of their parent would die.