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Is sponsoring the child born out of wedlock and the child of unknown parentage rewarded the same as sponsoring an orphan, and what is the legitimate proof of that, and under what name are these sponsorships marketed to philanthropists?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Orphanhood, legally, is the loss of the father before puberty, and it ceases upon the orphan reaching puberty. Therefore, a child born out of wedlock and a child whose parents are unknown are not orphans in the legal sense; because the first has no legal father, and the second has unknown parents. However, the Lawgiver (Allah) has shown concern for the orphan due to their weakness and need for care, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "O Allah, I declare inviolable the rights of the two weak ones: the orphan and the woman." A child born out of wedlock is considered an orphan by حكم (ruling/deemed) due to the loss of a father, and their guardian is like the guardian of an orphan, and a foundling is even more deserving of this because they have lost both parents. The scholars have made it obligatory to sufficiently provide for a foundling.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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