You will be rewarded for taking care of your stepchildren

22-1-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful.
I am married to a man who has children from a previous marriage and I look after those children. Will I be rewarded for taking care of my stepchildren, especially given that we live in a non-Muslim country?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Those children have become a trust in your hand and you have to keep that trust well by looking after them, taking care of their affairs, and providing them with the correct Islamic upbringing.

Undoubtedly, if you undertake this great mission and perform this duty, Allaah Almighty Will Reward you, as He never Wastes the reward of one who does good deeds.

Furthermore, those children will stand by your side when you become old and when you need them most, as they will always remember your kindness to them when they were young.

Nevertheless, the greatest reward is the reward of Allaah Almighty, Who Says (what means): {And they who are to their trusts and their promises attentive * And they who carefully maintain their prayers – * Those are the inheritors * Who will inherit Al-Firdaws. They will abide therein eternally.}[Quran 23: 8-11]

The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, “And for you in [kindness to] every [creature with] a wet liver there is reward.” If this is the case with beasts, the reward for kindness towards young and weak children will be great. The reward will be greater if they were provided with an Islamic upbringing, particularly that they live in a non-Muslim environment.

We ask Allaah Almighty to guide and support all of us.

Allaah Knows best.