Question Summary:
The permissibility of adopting a child

Question Detail:

Is it permissible to adopt?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
It is permissible and in fact a sunnah of Rasulullah Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam to adopt a child.
Consider the following narration:
أَنَّ أَبَا حُذَيْفَةَ بْنَ عُتْبَةَ بْنِ رَبِيعَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ شَمْسٍ، وَكَانَ مِمَّنْ شَهِدَ بَدْرًا مَعَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، تَبَنَّى سَالِمًا، وَأَنْكَحَهُ بِنْتَ أَخِيهِ هِنْدَ بِنْتَ الوَلِيدِ بْنِ عُتْبَةَ بْنِ رَبِيعَةَ وَهُوَ مَوْلًى لِامْرَأَةٍ مِنَ الأَنْصَارِ، كَمَا " تَبَنَّى النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ زَيْدًا، وَكَانَ مَنْ تَبَنَّى رَجُلًا فِي الجَاهِلِيَّةِ دَعَاهُ النَّاسُ إِلَيْهِ وَوَرِثَ مِنْ مِيرَاثِهِ، حَتَّى أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ {ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْ} [الأحزاب: 5] إِلَى قَوْلِهِ {وَمَوَالِيكُمْ} [الأحزاب: 5] فَرُدُّوا إِلَى آبَائِهِمْ، فَمَنْ لَمْ يُعْلَمْ لَهُ أَبٌ، كَانَ مَوْلًى وَأَخًا فِي الدِّينِ  
صحيح البخاري (396/ 10)دار البشائر الإسلامية
Translation: Abu Hudhaifa bin Utba who had had witnessed the battle of Badr along with the Nabi Sallahu Alayhi Wasallam adopted Salim as his son, to whom he married his niece, Hind bint Al-Walid; and salim was the freed slave of Ansar woman, just as the Nabi Sallahu Alayhi Wasallam had adopted Zaid as his son. It was the custom in the Pre-Islamic period that if somebody adopted a boy, the people would call him the son of the adoptive father he would be the latter’s heir. But when Allah revealed the Divine Verses: “Call them by their fathers’ name” (Surah Al-Ahzab #5) the adopted person were called by their fathers’ names. The one whose father was not known, would be regarded as a Mawla and their brother in religion. (Sahih Bukhari V.10 Pg.396 Darul Bashair Al-Islamiyya)
 
For further information pertaining to adoption please go to the following link:
http://askimam.org/public/question_detail/27034
 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Immad Bin Arshad
Student Darul Iftaa
California, USA
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
www.daruliftaa.net