The Ruling on Disciplining Orphans and Being Kind to Them
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Question:
My sister’s husband passed away, leaving her with five children, the eldest of whom is eleven years old. They are living with their mother and us after she refused to remarry. Because they are mischievous and sometimes anger me, I find myself scolding them and sometimes hitting them. Is there any sin on me for that, considering that I love them very much?
Answer:
These are orphans, and one is required to be kind to them and not to point out their status as orphans. If one is a relative, they have rights, and your sister’s children are relatives. They have the right to a share of the estate and the right to kindness. Allah the Exalted has commanded kindness to them and ordered good treatment of them. He said:[Ad-Duhaa 93:9]. He said: [An-Nisa 4:9].
Being kind to orphans. Being kind to orphans. This carries a great reward. And being unkind to orphans. This is forbidden. So you must be careful regarding this matter.
And not being unkind to them. As for disciplining them for their benefit, disciplining, if it is for their benefit and within the prescribed limits, there is nothing wrong with it, because this is in their interest. But I advise gentleness in that, and looking at the benefits, and warding off harm.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
My sister’s husband passed away, leaving her with five children, the eldest of whom is eleven years old. They are living with their mother and us after she refused to remarry. Because they are mischievous and sometimes anger me, I find myself scolding them and sometimes hitting them. Is there any sin on me for that, considering that I love them very much?
Answer:
These are orphans, and one is required to be kind to them and not to point out their status as orphans. If one is a relative, they have rights, and your sister’s children are relatives. They have the right to a share of the estate and the right to kindness. Allah the Exalted has commanded kindness to them and ordered good treatment of them. He said:
So as for the orphan, do
فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلَاAnd let those [executors and guardians] fear [injustice] as if they [themselves] had left weak offspring behind and feared for them. So let them fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice.
وَلْيَخْشَ الَّذِينَ لَوْ تَرَكُوا مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّةً ضِعَافًا خَافُوا عَلَيْهِمْ فَلْيَتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلْيَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدًاBeing kind to orphans. Being kind to orphans. This carries a great reward. And being unkind to orphans. This is forbidden. So you must be careful regarding this matter.
And not being unkind to them. As for disciplining them for their benefit, disciplining, if it is for their benefit and within the prescribed limits, there is nothing wrong with it, because this is in their interest. But I advise gentleness in that, and looking at the benefits, and warding off harm.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، نور على الدرب 136 من المجموعة الأولى للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (17:44)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.