Islam_in_Focus_text

name, and if the name is unknown, he must be called a
brother in Faith (Qur'an, 33:4-5). This, of course, does not
mean that a child who has no known father or supporter
should suffer deprivation or lack of care. Far from it. It
means that adoption as practiced today is not the way to give
that child secure and prosperous life. No one can really and
fully substitute for the actual father and mother. The daily
course of events, the compticated procedures and cases in
courts, and the disputes between families attest that adoption
never solves a problem. How many cases are there in courts
today where the real parents are demanding the return of
their children who have been adopted by strange families
and introduced of different environments? How long can a
normal father or mother see his child in a strange home?
How far can they trust artificial parents to bring up their
child in the proper way and give him due care? How will the
child himself feel when he grows up to find that his real par-
ents gave him away and that he has had artificial parent-
hood? How will he react when he discovers that his real par-
ents are unknown, or that his mother gave him up because of
fear or poverty or shame or insecurity? How much is the
adopted child liked by other members of the adopting fami-
ly? Do they like a strange child to take name and inherit the
properties to which they are potential heirs? How will the
breeders feel when the real parents demand the return of
their child, or when the child himself wishes to join his orig-