The word for orphan in Arabic is yatim.
What is an orphan?
In the western sense, we think of an orphan as someone who has lost both of
their parents, either through abandonment, being put up for adoption, or death.
In Islam, the orphan is one who father has passed away before the age of
puberty:
Summary: only a child under the age of puberty whose father dies is called a yatīm [orphan] in Islām; one whose mother dies (while his father is still alive) is not a yatīm, nor is anyone past puberty ever called a yatīm. https://t.co/nAxvutTBEO
— Mikail ibn Mahboob Ariff (@MikailMahboob) February 2, 2021
Who is an Orphan in Islamic terms and what are the limits? - AbuKhadeejah.com:
"Shaikh Muhammad b. Saalih al-‘Uthaimeen (rahimahullaah) said:
The limit at which one remains an orphan finished at adolescence (adulthood). So when a child reaches adulthood then he is no longer an orphan. And before the age of adolescence, he remains an orphan if his father has passed away. And if it is the case that his mother has passed away whilst his father is alive, then he is not an orphan."
Treatment of Orphans
The Mention of the Orphan in the Quraan
- 2:83, 177, 215, 220
- 4:2, 3, 6, 8, 10, 36, 127
- 6:152
- 8:41
- 17:34
- 18:82
- 59:7
- 76:8
- 89:17
- 90:15
- 93:6
- 107:2
