What is Kafala

Kafala is a legal and permanent arrangement in which a child is placed with a family other than their biological one, with that family assuming full responsibility for the child's care and upbringing. In Islamic law, Kafala is recognized as a religiously valid form of guardianship, allowing a family to nurture and provide for a child while preserving the child's lineage, inheritance rights, and full name—factors that distinguish it from adoption in Islam.

Although Kafala is strongly encouraged in Islam, there has been a widespread cultural misunderstanding about its true meaning, practice, and significance. As a result, many children have remained in institutional care homes instead of growing up in a loving family environment. This page was created to restore the authentic understanding of Kafala in Islam, as taught by our beloved Prophet.

عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ رضي الله عنه قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولَ اَللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: أَنَا وَكَافِلُ الْيَتِيمِ في الْجَنَّةِ هكَذَا، وَأَشَارَ بِالسَّبَّابَةِ وَالْوُسطَى وَفَرَّجَ بَيْنَهُمَا شَيْئاً.

From Sahl bin Sa'ad (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: “The Messenger of Allah sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam said: “I and the one who looks after an orphan will be like this in Paradise,” showing his middle and index fingers and separating them.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]

This great hadith highlights the magnitude and virtue of the person practicing Kafala for children without parental care, which is why Imam al-Bukhari rahimahullaah includes it in the chapter: The Virtue of the People Who Care for the Orphans.

Some of the essential phrases contained in this hadith are:

1. Meaning of the hadith: The person who practices Kafala for children without parental care in their worldly affairs will attain a high position in Paradise, close to the rank of the Prophet sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam.
2. Meaning of “caring for children without parental care”: It involves attending to all their worldly needs, such as providing food and drink, clothing, nurturing, and guiding them with proper Islamic education.
3. Definition of a child without parental care: A child who has lost their father, or both parents, before reaching maturity.
4. Scope of the virtue: This excellence applies to the person practicing Kafala using their own property or the property of the child, if they are the rightful guardian.
5. Applicability: This virtue extends to those who practice Kafala for children with or without kinship ties.

Points to consider regarding Kafala, which is often misunderstood due to confusion about Islamic rulings:

• Preserving lineage: A child under Kafala should not be presented as the child of anyone other than their biological parents, based on the words of Allah:

  ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْ هُوَ أَقْسَطُ عِندَ اللَّـهِ ۚ فَإِن لَّمْ تَعْلَمُوا آبَاءَهُمْ فَإِخْوَانُكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَمَوَالِيكُمْ سورة

  Call them by [the names of] their fathers; it is more just in the sight of Allah. But if you do not know their fathers - then they are [still] your brothers in religion and those entrusted to you. And there is no blame upon you for that in which you have erred but [only for] what your hearts intended. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. [33:5]

• Inheritance: Children under Kafala are not entitled to the inheritance of the family caring for them, in contrast to pre-Islamic customs that treated such children as biological heirs.
• Mahram rules: Children under Kafala are not mahram to their caregivers. It is obligatory for the caregivers and their children to observe hijab in front of them, just as they would with any non-mahram, unlike pre-Islamic practices.