Answer: The easy way for anyone wishing to adopt a girl is to adopt his niece so that he can live with her even when she reaches puberty without establishing a breast-feeding relationship (Raḍā’at). However, once she reaches puberty, she must observe veil with non-Maḥram men of the house such as, those sons of her foster parents who have reached puberty, (provided they are not her Raḍā’ī-brothers). If the adopted girl is a non-Maḥram female then her non-Maḥram foster father should not live with her once she reaches puberty or is close to puberty.
My master A’lā Ḥaḍrat, Imām-e-Aĥl-e-Sunnat, Maulānā Shāĥ Imām Aḥmad Razā Khān عَـلَيْهِ رَحْمَةُ الـرَّحْمٰن wrote in Fatāwā Razawiyyaĥ, volume 13, page 412: When the girl reaches puberty or is close to reaching puberty, she should definitely live with her father until she is married. After the age of nine she will not be allowed to live with her real mother and will be made to live with her father instead of a non-Maḥram man (i.e. the one whom marriage is not forever Ḥarām with). It is never permissible for her to live with this non-Maḥram man. A girl will not become a man’s daughter just because he has brought her up. Islamic jurists رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ تَـعَالٰی said: The minimum age of a girl who is close to reaching puberty is nine years.
(Rad-dul-Muḥtār, vol. 4, pp. 118)
Question: If a married couple has brought up adopted children from a very young age, it seems extremely difficult to observe veil once they get mature. Please tell us how it is possible for someone to adopt a child and then not need to observe veil when the child gets older?
Answer: You can do this by establishing a suckling-relationship (Raḍā’at) with the adopted boy/girl. However, in this case you must