Praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds.
I would like to extend my deepest thanks to the president of the SOS Children`s Villages for the collective obligation that he and his staff are performing on behalf of society and stress the following points:
First: It is forbidden to view the SOS children as the fruit of adultery/fornication or what the public call "Bastards" since people`s conditions vary. The child whose father and mother are unknown is an innocent citizen that must be respected; even if it was proven that his/her parents have committed adultery. This is because Allah the Almighty Says: "and no burdened soul shall bear the burden of another." {Al-An`am, 164}.
Second: Every human is born with a clean record and is held to account upon reaching puberty. Those children are innocent in every sense of the word! So, they, like other children, must be treated with kindness.
Thirdly: SOS children who have no provider must be provided for by society in general, be it the state or members of society. Nevertheless, not being provided for renders all society sinful. Therefore, when members of society or an organization takes care of them, a collective obligation is performed and society is cleared from liability before Allah.
Fourth: Providing for those children or other orphans entails the same recompense from Allah and we all know the Hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "I and the one who looks after an orphan will be like this in Paradise: "showing his middle and index fingers and separating them." Moreover, Sharia allows giving Zakat and charity funds to those in charge of the SOS children since they are authorized by the givers to deliver those funds to their eligible recipients.
Fifth: Those children are a trust in the hands of the SOS village administrators. Therefore, they must be taught all that benefits them in this life and the next, in addition to religious obligations, such as good character. Also, they must be taught a trade to earn an honest living to achieve self-sufficiency. In addition, salaries received by those in charge of the SOS children don`t reduce their reward from Almighty Allah. If they deliver the deliver the tasks entrusted to them toward those children properly then they will be cleared from liability before Almighty Allah. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.
