She is one of eight daughters and eight sons from two wives of their father, who passed away approximately eight years ago. Six of the sons and four of the daughters are from her father’s wife, and two sons and four daughters are from her mother.

The questioner : She is one of eight daughters and eight sons from two wives of their father, who passed away approximately eight years ago. Six of the sons and four of the daughters are from her father’s wife, and two sons and four daughters are from her mother. She says the problem is summarized as follows: After our father’s death, he left us a farm in the city of Ha’il. We, the heirs, agreed to sell it, and we actually sold it and divided it, with each person taking what belongs to him from the inheritance according to the noble Islamic Shari'ah. However, he also left a residence consisting of a two-story villa in the city of Riyadh, which he purchased several months before his death for an amount equal to the value of the farm we sold after his death. He wrote a document stating that the villa should be an endowment (waqf) in the hands of my eldest brother and my brother from the second wife, and that they have the freedom to dispose of it after taking the value of sacrificial animals from it, along with charity and other things, which cost only a small amount. He also wrote that if any of his children needs this villa, he should not be deprived of it. But unfortunately, it has now been about eight years, and it is rented out for eighty thousand riyals, and each of them takes forty thousand annually. We, the rest of the sons and daughters, see nothing from it at all. They do not perform charity, except for performing the sacrifice each year with only four sacrificial animals. We asked them to give us some of that rent or to sell it and divide its value among everyone, after taking one-third of it to do something charitable for him in this world and the Hereafter. But they refused and said you have nothing in this villa, treating it as if it was gifted to them by our father. Is this action permissible for them, and what is the proper and best way to handle such a case, knowing that the daughters are married? Yes?

The Shaykh : This question cannot be answered specifically because every case involving a dispute between two parties is not resolved on this platform, as their problem is resolved through the courts, the Shari'ah courts. But we say in general terms.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : It is not permissible for a person to endow (waqf) any of his wealth for some of his children, because this is injustice. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So it is not permissible, for example, to say, “This is an endowment for my son so-and-so and so-and-so, or my daughter so-and-so,” or the like, because this is specifying some of his children with this endowment, and it is forbidden for him, whether that is after his death or during his lifetime.
As for what a person endows, if it is a bequest such that he bequeathed its endowment after his death, it is considered part of the one-third. Meaning, if it exceeds one-third of what he left behind, what exceeds the one-third is not executed unless with the approval of the sane heirs. And if he endows it during his lifetime while he is healthy and sound, there is no harm, and it can all be an endowment, and the heirs have no option in it. However, as I said, it is not permissible to specify some of his children with it to the exclusion of others.
And this issue, meaning the issue of specifying children, is one of the matters in which some people are negligent, even though it is injustice and a great sin. So a person should fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Just as he loves for them to be equal in his kindness, he should also be equal in his kindness to them. Yes.

The questioner : May Allah reward you.
This questioner is Muhammad Awda Ismail, an Egyptian working in Riyadh at the Central Hospital.