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Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear questioner, thanks for your important question, and we earnestly implore Allah to shower all those Muslims who died in that quake and tsunami with His all-embracing mercy, and may He Almighty grant all the bereaved tranquility and steadfastness.
Undoubtedly sponsoring an orphan is a great righteous deed and a praiseworthy action. It is the responsibility of Muslims all over the world to assist in such humane activity. It is an obligation upon all Muslims, individuals, institutions, and governments to assist their beloved brothers and sisters in this catastrophe and to hasten to save those orphan and homeless children from traffickers.
In his response to your question, Dr. Rif`at Fawzi, former professor of Shari`ah at Cairo University, states:
As far as Islam is concerned, sponsoring an orphan is a great righteous deed and a good and praiseworthy action. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I and the one who sponsors an orphan will be like this in Paradise,” and he gestured with his index and middle fingers (Al-Bukhari).
Muslim governments, organizations, institutions, and individuals should have hastened to take care of the fatherless and homeless children instead of leaving them prey for gangs and traffickers, or for being brought up as non-Muslims. Muslims should have hastened to take care of those children either in their countries or by assigning and sponsoring institutions to take care of those children in their countries.
Therefore, we call upon Muslim governments, organizations, institutions, and individuals to hasten to save those children from those gangs and traffickers and to take care of them before it is too late. Moreover, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
You have raised an urgent issue, which must be a concern of every conscientious Muslim. It is the duty of the Muslims in the area first to take care of the orphans, they should be provided every possible help by Muslims all over the world in this effort.
It is not recommended to uproot these children from their own kith and kin and familiar surroundings, that would not be sound Islamically; it will also have incalculable emotional and spiritual traumatic effects on them. So every effort must be made to ensure that these children are taken care of by their own kith and kin or family friends rather than allowing them to be transplanted in unfamiliar surroundings and cultures.
Muslims must remember the following:
1. Taking care of the widows and orphans is a most rewarding act in Islam, far superior to ordinary rituals; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), referred to it as supreme jihad.
2. Compassion is the heart of Islam; it is the hallmark of faith and those who are devoid of it are bereft of faith.
3. Therefore, Muslims must mobilize their efforts to come to the help of these helpless widows and orphans.
An ideal way would be for Muslims of a major city or province to adopt a village or small town in the affected areas by providing for them the essentials so that they can resettle their inhabitants and take care of their own people.
There may be also other creative ways and options. But the most important point to bear in mind is that all efforts must be directed on keeping the orphans within their kith and kin and familiar surroundings rather than transplanting them elsewhere. The last one should only be the final recourse when all else fails. You can also read:
Role of Muslim Governments in Aiding Disaster Victims
How Religious Organizations Can Help Disaster Victims
Helping Disaster Victims (Special Folder)
Sponsoring a Relative Orphan
Maltreating Orphans: A Heinous Sin?
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