Is the abandoned girl considered a mahram (a relative one may not marry) to the one who raised her?
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The first question of Fatwa number ( 17455 )
Q1: We found a girl baby immediately after her birth and we raised her. She is now about five years old, and her birth certificate contains the names of a mother and a father who are fictitious. She is now living among us, and I have three brothers. I ask you, may your eminence clarify how to raise her with an Islamic upbringing in this environment, and whether my brothers are her mahrams (relatives one may not marry) such that it is not permissible for them to marry her?
A1: An abandoned girl is not attributed to the one who raised her, and he does not become a mahram (a relative one may not marry) for her
except if she breastfed from his wife or from a woman who is prohibited for him to marry by lineage or a permissible cause; such as his mother, his sister, his father’s wife, and the like, five breastfeedings or more within the two-year period. There is no doubt that in taking custody of an abandoned child and being kind to him, there is a great reward with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) for the one whose intention is sound, but that abandoned child does not become a mahram (a relative one may not marry) for the one who found him except by what we have mentioned. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q1: We found a girl baby immediately after her birth and we raised her. She is now about five years old, and her birth certificate contains the names of a mother and a father who are fictitious. She is now living among us, and I have three brothers. I ask you, may your eminence clarify how to raise her with an Islamic upbringing in this environment, and whether my brothers are her mahrams (relatives one may not marry) such that it is not permissible for them to marry her?
A1: An abandoned girl is not attributed to the one who raised her, and he does not become a mahram (a relative one may not marry) for her
except if she breastfed from his wife or from a woman who is prohibited for him to marry by lineage or a permissible cause; such as his mother, his sister, his father’s wife, and the like, five breastfeedings or more within the two-year period. There is no doubt that in taking custody of an abandoned child and being kind to him, there is a great reward with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) for the one whose intention is sound, but that abandoned child does not become a mahram (a relative one may not marry) for the one who found him except by what we have mentioned. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.