The ruling on claiming kinship with other than one’s parents or through breastfeeding
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
A man of unknown lineage grew up in one of the lands of disbelief, under the care of a family in that disbelieving land, and he calls the one who raised him “my mother” and “my father.” Then he embraced Islam. What is the ruling regarding these people? Is it permissible for him to call them by the titles “my father” and “my mother”?
The Shaykh:
No, it is not permissible for him to do this. He does not claim kinship with other than his father or his mother. Yes.
The questioner:
And is the woman who cared for him during those years considered forbidden to him and a mahram (a relative one may not marry) for him?
The Shaykh:
No, she is a stranger to him, unless she breastfed him when he was young, in which case he would be her son through breastfeeding. As for mere upbringing, he does not become her son. Yes.
A man of unknown lineage grew up in one of the lands of disbelief, under the care of a family in that disbelieving land, and he calls the one who raised him “my mother” and “my father.” Then he embraced Islam. What is the ruling regarding these people? Is it permissible for him to call them by the titles “my father” and “my mother”?
The Shaykh:
No, it is not permissible for him to do this. He does not claim kinship with other than his father or his mother. Yes.
The questioner:
And is the woman who cared for him during those years considered forbidden to him and a mahram (a relative one may not marry) for him?
The Shaykh:
No, she is a stranger to him, unless she breastfed him when he was young, in which case he would be her son through breastfeeding. As for mere upbringing, he does not become her son. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل يجوز للرجل مجهول النسب مناداة كافله الكافر بأبي؟ وهل المرأة التي قامت برعايته تعتبر حرامًا عليه؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.