The ruling on a father being stingy with his children

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Question:
This questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, a man is wealthy and has property, but this man is stingy with himself and his children, even though those who see these children say that they are poor. What is the ruling on this? May you be rewarded.

Answer:
This is not permissible. It is not permissible for a father to be stingy with his children and his household, or to restrict their financial maintenance. This is forbidden.

And [they are] those who, when they spend, do so not excessively or sparingly but are ever, between that, [justly] moderate

وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا أَنفَقُوا لَمْ يُسْرِفُوا وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُوا وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ قَوَامًا

[Al-Furqan 25:67]

And do not make your hand [as] chained to your neck

وَلَا تَجْعَلْ يَدَكَ مَغْلُولَةً إِلَىٰ عُنُقِكَ

[Al-Isra 17:29]

meaning stinginess,

or extend it completely and [thereby] become

وَلَا تَبْسُطْهَا كُلَّ الْبَسْطِ فَتَقْعُدَ

[Al-Isra 17:29]

and you will end up regretting it. There are many verses regarding this. Therefore, it is not permissible for a Muslim; in the hadith,

It is sufficient sin for a man that he neglects

كفى بالرجل إثما أن يضيع من

Sunan Abi Dawud 1692Hasan (Al-Albani)

it is sufficient for a man to be a sinner if he neglects the one he is responsible for. A Muslim must spend on those under his care in a good manner, and he must not be short with them or stingy with them. They will hold him accountable on the Day of Resurrection and take from him what he wronged them with. Yes.

Source نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/273 — archive.org (10:55)

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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