Muslims believe in adoption, or do they?

Last updated on: January 11, 2013 at 3:50 pm by Bobby Ross Jr.

Muslims believe in adoption, or do they? 2013-01-11T15:50:02-05:00 Bobby Ross Jr.

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Dallas Morning News ran a tame little feature recently on efforts to recruit Muslim foster families in North Texas.

By “tame little feature,” I mean a relatively shallow report that scratches at the surface of key questions.

I’m a Morning News subscriber, so I was able to read the entire story (for non-subscribers, it’s mostly behind a pay wall).

The opening itself proves confusing (boldface emphasis mine):

A lack of Muslim foster parents in North Texas means local Muslim children are almost always placed with families of other faiths, putting them in an unfamiliar cultural and religious environment and making a difficult process even harder.

A Richland Hills clinic doesn’t want foster children to face added stresses, like being served bacon when their religion forbids pork, or saying prayers in a bedroom with a cross on the wall. That’s why the Muslim Community Center for Human Services is offering up a challenge to local Muslims: Step up. Become a foster parent.

“It’s a service to humanity,” said Dr. Basheer Ahmed, who founded the clinic. “There’s definitely a bad need in the community.”

About 6,000 North Texas children are in foster care each year, according to Child Protective Services. In recent years, local community leaders say, there have been a handful of times when a Muslim foster home was needed but not available, including twice in the past few months.

Is it just me or does the information in the first paragraph and the fourth paragraph seem to conflict? Are Muslim foster parents almost always unavailable (first paragraph) or occasionally unavailable (fourth paragraph)? It’s been a long week, kind GetReligion readers, so please help me understand what I’m missing!

My other question: Is there a holy ghost in this story? Could it be that Muslim beliefs on adoption are at play here? Mollie posted in 2010 on “Why Muslims don’t adopt?” (If you’re not familiar with Muslim beliefs on adoption, that link is extremely helpful.)

So does the Morning News address the religion angle (as it relates to Muslim beliefs)? Sort of:

Though Islam requires adults to be honest with children about their family lineage, the religion endorses fostering and adoption, said Imam Zia Sheikh of the Islamic Center of Irving.

“Looking after orphans and taking care of them is actually encouraged in Islam,” he said

If you didn’t click the previous link already, go ahead and do it now. Now that you’re up to speed, here’s a question: Is it accurate to say that Islam encourages adoption? Or is the subject perhaps a bit more complicated than the two paragraphs blockquoted above?

Beyond my specific questions related to Muslims, I wish the Dallas story had provided more context on how Child Protective Services handles religion in general. For example, how hard does CPS try to find a Southern Baptist home for a Southern Baptist kid? And what does the law say about making child placements based on religion?

Image via Shutterstock

Child Protective Services

Dallas Morning News

foster care

Previous Post

January 11, 2013

Affirm homosexuality now ... or else

Next Post

January 11, 2013 Syrian sniper offers thoughts on life, death and faith

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 5Q+1 Academia Anglicanism Announcements Atheists & Agnostics Baptists Books Business & Economy Catholicism Creeping Fundamentalism Education Ethics Evangelicals Film First Person gays Godbeat Got news? Humor Interviews Islam Journalism Judaism Lutherans Mainline Marriage & family Middle East Mormons Music Nones Orthodoxy Pagans Pentecostalism People Podcasts Politics Pop Culture Race Radio & TV Religion religious liberty Same-sex marriage Science Sex Social Issues Sports Uncategorized Vatican Web/Tech What is this? World World Religions Worship

Select a Month August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 May 2010 July 2009 February 2009 October 2008 July 2008 January 2007 August 2006 July 2006 October 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What sea did Jesus walk on?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mediterranean Sea Dead Sea Sea of Galilee Red Sea