“As for Ottoman adoption laws, here I’m afraid the Jensenites don’t know what they are talking about. I can tell you as Middle Eastern historian, there is no such thing in the Islamic world as adoption as we know it. The Islamic term for what is commonly called adoption is kafala, which comes from a word that means “to feed.” It refers to the act of taking an orphan into ones home, but the child retains his birth parent’s name and he does not inherit from his ‘adoptive’ parents.”
From a webiste called “Adoption in Islam”
“The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once said that a person who cares for an orphaned child will be in Paradise with him, and motioned to show that they would be as close as two fingers of a single hand. An orphan himself, Muhammad paid special attention to the care of children. He himself adopted a former slave and raised him with the same care as if he were his own son.
However, the Qur’an gives specific rules about the legal relationship between a child and his/her adoptive family. The child’s biological family is never hidden; their ties to the child are never severed. The Qur’an specifically reminds adoptive parents that they are not the child’s biological parents”
So, there is adoption in the world of Islam. And of course the child is not the blood descendant, that’s why they’re “adopted”. But the Baha’is are not Muslims. As far as the Muslims not having a kind of adoption that “we know”, that is, a child coming into a family and forgetting about their blood family, this is not what happened with Mason. He retained his family name “Remey” and identity but didn’t move in with Abdu’l-Baha, etc. but Abdu’l-Baha declared Mason to be HIS SON! The BUPC are just saying that “hereditary” line of the Guardian is a simple father to son lineage. Abdu’l-Baha adopted Mason, calling him his son, etc. Mason adopted Pepe and Pepe adopted Neal, according to the wonderful information Susan provided, as this might have been confusing to the believers, for how could Abdu’l-Baha adopt a grown man and still that man retain his name and identity? Good resource for more evidence of how this adoption of Mason by Abdu’l-Baha was genuine. Now we have a keener understanding of this process. Thanks Susan!
Victor