Summary

Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy takes up the orphan in the light of what he says about the Prophet's own orphanhood. He urges honouring the orphan and stroking his head, and in answer to a question about the wisdom of orphanhood he holds that a human being needs someone to help him from the time of conception. He warns against replacing tenderness with manufactured milk in the care of an infant. ¹ ² ³ ⁴

The orphan's hidden faults and high standing

The Sheikh explains why the Prophet was an orphan. The faults of an orphan do not show to anyone, his right is not diminished, and orphanhood teaches him to understand the conditions of people. He then explains what it means that God alone protects him. Qur'an 93:6 ¹

Honouring the orphan and his worth before God

The Sheikh urges honouring the orphan and stroking his head, and says that the house in which an orphan is honoured is the best of houses before God. He refers to a hadith that the recording does not name (needs_source: unnamed hadith). ²

A question: is there a purpose in the Prophet's orphanhood?

The Sheikh answers a question about the wisdom of the Prophet's orphanhood. He holds that a human being needs someone to help him from the time of conception, and that the womb and the present life are stages that move a person from constriction to ease. ³

Orphanhood in humans, animals and birds

The Sheikh sets out the definition of an orphan in humans, animals and birds (needs_source: the animal examples are not sourced). ⁵

The weakness of the human newborn and its need for care

The Sheikh compares young animals that stand and suckle within hours with the human newborn, which needs its mother (needs_source: the comparison between animal and human young is not sourced). He warns against replacing tenderness with manufactured milk. ⁴

Sources

Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Al Fawzu Al Moubeen, episode 5, at 00:25:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Al Fawzu Al Moubeen, episode 5, at 00:27:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Al Fawzu Al Moubeen, episode 5, at 00:34:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Al Fawzu Al Moubeen, episode 5, at 00:36:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Al Fawzu Al Moubeen, episode 5, at 00:35:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Custody of a child (hadana)

Custody (hadana) is keeping safe, and raising in what suits, a person who cannot yet manage his own affairs; it is obligatory, since the child may perish or be harmed without it, and it becomes an individual duty when there is no other custodian. It differs from sponsorship (kafala), which is the joining of liabilities, from guardianship, and from the executorship that a will creates. It applies to a child, and to an insane or imbecile adult by general agreement. The mother has the better claim so long as she does not marry a stranger to the child: ”You have the better claim to him as long as you do not marry.” The order of claimants after the mother differs: the Hanafis put the mother's mother, the father's mother, the sisters, the aunts and then the agnates; the Malikis put the maternal grandmother, the aunts, the paternal grandmother, then the father; the Shafi'is put the daughter, the mothers' line, the paternal grandmother, the sisters and the aunts; the Hanbalis put the mothers' line, then the father, the paternal line, the grandfather, and the sisters, aunts and kin. When male and female claimants stand equal, the female takes precedence. The custodian's conditions include Islam for some, puberty and reason, trustworthiness, ability, freedom from contagious illness, soundness of judgement for the Malikis and Shafi'is, and a safe place. A man must be a mahram of an adolescent girl in his charge; a woman must not marry a stranger to the child and must not keep him in the house of someone who dislikes him. The place of custody is the father's dwelling; a custodian's removal to settle elsewhere ends custody for the majority, and the Hanafis draw a distinction for a mother's travel. Payment for custody is allowed for the Shafi'is and Hanbalis, and in the preferred Maliki view there is none. Custody lapses with a bar and returns when the bar is removed, and the views differ on its return after divorce. The mothers' custody of a boy ends at seven for the Hanafis, at puberty for the Malikis, while the Shafi'is give the child a choice between his parents on reaching discernment. Each parent has the right to see and visit the child.

Caring for orphans (kafalat al-yatim)

At a glance