La Kafâla ou recueil légal des mineurs en droit musulman : une adoption sans filiation

The kafâla, or legal guardianship of a minor who has been abandoned or orphaned, and a means of child protection recognized by international conventions, is regulated in certain Muslim law countries – notably Algeria and Morocco, which also prohibit adoption by virtue of sharia law. Many French families from these two countries take children into custody under the law (through kafâla). But unlike adoption, kafâla does not create a paternal tie, such that under French law the child is not part of his or her new family – giving rise to administrative problems at the point of the child’s entry into France, and also in the course of their residence. Moreover, in 2001, the French parliament passed a law prohibiting judges from granting adoptions to foreign children born in countries where adoption is forbidden – with the result that children sheltered in kafâla arrangements, most of whom come from such countries, may not be adopted by those who raise them unless they acquire French nationality, and in any case not before they reach the age of five