An agricultural engineer working in Jordan says in his question: We are three brothers, and we have a brother from our father, meaning his mother has passed away, and this brother was undutiful to his father, that is, to our father, and
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : We are three brothers, and we have a brother from our father, meaning his mother has passed away, and this brother was undutiful to his father, that is, to our father, and he used to quarrel with him a lot. My father helped him a while ago to buy a house for him. On one of the occasions when he quarreled with him, our father decided to write the house in which we live with our father to us, out of fear that our brother would quarrel with us after our father’s death. This was in exchange for having helped him buy a house for him, as I mentioned before. Allah willed that this brother died, and he has children, some of whom are married, and our father is still alive. My question is: Is our father’s conscience now clear regarding him, despite the fact that he was undutiful to him, or do we have to pay his children a sum of money in exchange for our father writing the house to us?
The Shaykh : Before answering this question, I would like to clarify that it is obligatory for a person to be just among his children in gifts and donations, and not to prefer one over another. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Bashir ibn Sa’d when he gave his son Nu’man what he did not give his brothers:Sahih al-Bukhari 2587, and he said to him: . Equalizing among children in gifts is done as Allah the Exalted has divided it for them in inheritance, where the male has the share of two females. This applies to anything that is not given to meet a need. As for what is given to meet a need, each person is given the amount of his need. If, for example, a person has children and one of them needs to get married while the others are young, and he marries this older son who needed to get married, he is not required to give the younger ones the same amount he paid for this son’s mahr (bridal gift) or what he gave him for the cost of marriage. However, if the younger ones reach the age of the first son and need to get married, he is required to marry them as he married the first one. Some people, when they married their older children and had younger children, would bequeath to the younger ones some of their wealth in exchange for what they gave to the older ones. This is forbidden and not permissible, and the bequest in such a case is invalid, because it is a bequest to an heir. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
After this, we answer the question. We say: Your father’s help to your brother from your father in buying a house for him is a matter of injustice and unfairness. What should have been done is that he should have made what he helped him with a loan in his debt. It was obligatory for him, when he helped him with his house, to be just among you by giving each of you what he gave him. This is for the males, and half of what he gave him for the females. Since you mentioned that he wrote his house to you, it must be examined: if that was equal to what he gave your brother, then the father’s conscience is clear, and what you took is lawful for you, and you are not required to give your brother’s children anything. However, if the house he wrote to you is a share for each of you that is more than what he gave your brother, then he is required in this case to give your brother’s children until he equalizes them with you. This is because it was obligatory for him to be just among you during your brother’s lifetime, and your brother’s right does not lapse with his death; rather, it belongs to his heirs after him.
The Shaykh : Before answering this question, I would like to clarify that it is obligatory for a person to be just among his children in gifts and donations, and not to prefer one over another. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Bashir ibn Sa’d when he gave his son Nu’man what he did not give his brothers:
Be afraid of Allah, and be just to your children.
اتقوا الله واعدلوا بين أولادكمI will not bear witness to injustice.
أشهد على هذا غيري، فإني لا أشهد على جورThere is no bequest for an heir
لا وصية لوارثAfter this, we answer the question. We say: Your father’s help to your brother from your father in buying a house for him is a matter of injustice and unfairness. What should have been done is that he should have made what he helped him with a loan in his debt. It was obligatory for him, when he helped him with his house, to be just among you by giving each of you what he gave him. This is for the males, and half of what he gave him for the females. Since you mentioned that he wrote his house to you, it must be examined: if that was equal to what he gave your brother, then the father’s conscience is clear, and what you took is lawful for you, and you are not required to give your brother’s children anything. However, if the house he wrote to you is a share for each of you that is more than what he gave your brother, then he is required in this case to give your brother’s children until he equalizes them with you. This is because it was obligatory for him to be just among you during your brother’s lifetime, and your brother’s right does not lapse with his death; rather, it belongs to his heirs after him.