Name	Mother	Father	Notes
Adam	No Mother	No Father	Allah created with His own hands.
Eve	No Mother	No Father	From Adam’s rib
Nuh	?	?	Wife & son die as disbelievers
Abraham	?	Azhar	Father dies Polytheist Blessed with son Ishaac when he is very old.
Joseph (Yusuf)	?	?	Adopted by Aziz and his wife
Moses	Adopted	Adopted	Adopted by the Pharoh and his wife
Maryam mother of Jesus			Adopted by Zakariyya & Wife
John		Zakariyya	Was born when parents were really old, named by Allaah Himself
Jesus	Maryam	No father	Born with no father
Muhammad	Adopted Amina dies when 6 years old.	Adopted Abdullah Died before he was born	Adopted First 3 years of life with foster mother Halima * Goes to Abdul Mutalib @ age 6 * Adopted by uncle Abu Talib * Wanted son however was given only daughters
Aisha (Wife of Muhammad)	Abu Bakar	Um Ruman	Was childless
Zaid ibn Haarith	Adopted	Adopted	Was the adopted son of Muhammad (saw)
Salim	Adopted	Adopted	Adopted by Abu Hudhaifa (famous companion of Prophet Muhammad)

3 of the 5 great prophets had a special upbringing

As our birth parents bring us into this world, most people believe that this will be the most important relationship. In reality it is our relationship with our creator which will be the most determining and lasting.

Let us consider the majority of humanity who knew their birth parents and had a usual upbringing have passed away, their names, lives, achievements, lost, forgotten, never to be mentioned again. As for many of the Prophets & great Islamic personalities who had special upbringings, their memories and stories are read and taught by billions the world over. Their special upbringing helped them in their lives to achieve, were brilliant and highly successful. Although they never knew their birth parents, their faith in God, and their upbringing of loving adoptive parents and families helped them achieve this and more.

Just imagine if you lose your mother and father when you’re young. Surely this is one of the most difficult & traumatic events that could occur in life. Will I live in a children’s home, move between family to family, grow up on the streets, at risk to drugs. God showed them that He was looking out for them. In their time of need and vulnerability, God placed them with caring parents, mothers and fathers. God’s mercy was upon them when they were small and would be so throughout their lives. Read below how God placed Mary in Zakariyya’s household & why:

“ (Remember) when the wife of Imrān said: “O my Rabb (Lord)! I have vowed to You what (the child that) is in my womb to be dedicated for Your services (free from all worldly work; to serve Your place of worship), so accept this from me. Verily, You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knowing.” Then when she gave birth to her child, she said: “O my Rabb! I have given birth to a female child,” – and Allaah knew best what she brought forth – “And the male is not like the female, and I have named her Maryam (Mary), and I seek refuge with You for her and for her offspring from Shaitan (Satan), the outcast.” So her Rabb accepted her with goodly acceptance. He made her grow in purity and beauty and put her under the care of Zakariyya (Zacharia). Every time he entered Al-Mihrāb (her private room) to visit her, he found her supplied with sustenance (food). He said: “O Maryam! From where have you got this?” She said, “This is from Allāh.” Verily, Allāh provides sustenance to whom He wills, without limit. 3.35-37

Abraham’s (peace be upon him) beloved father, the one who he would constantly pray for, would not accept his message & died as a disbeliever polytheist. By this Abraham was severely tested.

Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) parents died whilst he was a child. He could of spent much time being depressed & angry about this in later life. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had a foster mother who breast-fed him. Her name was Umm Ayman . It was narrated that when the Prophet Muhammad saw her coming to visit him, he called out joyously, “Oh Mother, Oh Mother (Ya Ummi, Ya Ummi) and laid down on the ground the cloth he was using to cover his head, for her to sit on.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) teaches us that the Prophets have the greatest tests, then the most like the prophets and then the most like them. (reference)

Often we feel sorry for or some may even look down on orphans those relinquished and adopted. Arrogant, proud, narrow minded ones often make jokes of, fun, ridicule and pray on people who have had a special upbringing, the Quran says:

Have you seen him who denies the religion? He is the one who harshly rebuffs the orphan and does not urge the feeding of the poor. So woe to those who do prayer, and are forgetful of their prayer, those who show off and deny help to others. (Surat al-Ma’un: 1-7) The most malicious and corrupt from amongst mankind, may even exploit their vulnerability. Allaah warns in the Quran about the stealing of the wealth of the orphan on at least three occasions: Allah issues a stern warning to those who misappropriate the wealth of orphans: People who consume the property of orphans wrongfully consume nothing in their bellies except fire. They will roast in a Searing These beliefs are often deeply held from generation to generation, often school children ridicule each other by name calling and insults such as “you’re adopted.” Allaah has taught us with the most wonderful examples, that the most noble of children, many of them, had an adopted/ fostered & special upbringing. Hence the significance and honour in doing like this. According to an American study, many adopted children feel discriminated against by other children at school, teachers and parents of friends, as well as extended family members. People need to be educated to consider “Adoption Discrimination” as socially unacceptable as other types of discrimination that are not tolerated. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once said the one who brings up an orphan will be very close with me on the Day of Judgment (he brought his two fingers close together to illustrate the closeness) Maybe God Almighty wanted to strengthen their dependence and reliance on Him from an early age, Allaah is the supreme Creator, to Him we belong and to Him we return. As they had a huge mission ahead of them this type of upbringing and the resilience it forms was best suited for their task ahead of them. And Allaah knows best. Their adopted & foster parents were perhaps better to raise them then their birth parents. Only Allaah knows in His complete knowledge and wisdom.

A chapter in the Quran called the Cave tells us about Moses going on an epic journey with a learned man. On this journey they learn a family lose their son, Moses later discovers the reason why is because the learned man knew form Allaah that the boy would grow in to an evil man causing his parents much distress, and that Allaah would then replace the boys parents with another child who would be good.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once said to his daughter Fatima ask of me what you wish in this life as in the hereafter it will be you on your own, your family blessings of this world will have no benefit or weighting in the next.