Inheritance of children of unknown parentage
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Fatwa No. ( 7922 ) Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, and his Companions. And after that: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed the question submitted by His Excellency the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs to His Eminence the Grand President, and referred to the Committee under number 2713 on 1/11/1404 AH, which reads: I hope you will allow me to present a topic concerning children of unknown parentage, whom this ministry is honored to care for, and to inform you, may Allah reward you with good, of what you see regarding them, as some of these children
They receive gifts and donations, and funds are kept by the person in charge of their custody to be handed over to them when they reach maturity. However, the child’s time in this life may end, and they may die before reaching this age or after it. If that happens, what do you see, may Allah guide you, regarding these things: should they be deposited in the public treasury, or should their ownership revert to the person who was in charge of their custody during their lifetime, or should they be spent on charitable causes? I ask you to inform me of the ruling of the Shari'ah in this matter so that this Ministry may follow it when some cases of children encounter what I have mentioned above. I ask Allah to guide everyone to what is good.
A: If the situation is as described, then the money collected for this child from gifts and the like belongs to the public treasury after settling any rights owed to him from it, unless his mother is known and present at the time of his death, in which case she is given her fixed share and any remainder. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
They receive gifts and donations, and funds are kept by the person in charge of their custody to be handed over to them when they reach maturity. However, the child’s time in this life may end, and they may die before reaching this age or after it. If that happens, what do you see, may Allah guide you, regarding these things: should they be deposited in the public treasury, or should their ownership revert to the person who was in charge of their custody during their lifetime, or should they be spent on charitable causes? I ask you to inform me of the ruling of the Shari'ah in this matter so that this Ministry may follow it when some cases of children encounter what I have mentioned above. I ask Allah to guide everyone to what is good.
A: If the situation is as described, then the money collected for this child from gifts and the like belongs to the public treasury after settling any rights owed to him from it, unless his mother is known and present at the time of his death, in which case she is given her fixed share and any remainder. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.