The Limits and Shari'ah Conditions for Spending the Retirement Salary and the Zakah of Money Saved for the Children
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Fatwa No. ( 19931 )
Q: I am a woman, my husband has passed away, and I have five children from him, aged (3, 9, 11, 13, 15). He left us a house as our property and a monthly salary (retirement). The guardian of the children is their grandfather (my father). People say: It is obligatory for me to record in a ledger everything I spend from the money,
whether on myself, the children, or the house, and that it is not permissible for me to go perform Hajj (the obligatory Hajj) from this salary or from the money my family and relatives give me. During one of the summer vacations, I traveled to the country of the UAE to visit relatives (my maternal uncles) with my sons, and they said: It is not permissible for me to do that (regarding the expenses). So my question is: Is all this talk correct, and what are the limits and Shari'ah conditions for my spending of this salary and all the money given? Is there zakah on it, and is it permissible for me to give charity from it or to buy household luxuries such as ornaments and decorations, or to change the furniture of the house, and so on? I ask you to inform me and advise me.
A: First: The monthly salary mentioned must be divided between you and your children according to the retirement system. Second: It is obligatory for the guardian to preserve the children's money from loss and to spend on them from it for food, drink, clothing, and other things they need. The guardian should develop the children's money until they reach the age of maturity, and it is not permissible for him to dispose of it except according to the stronger interest for them. Third: Zakah is obligatory on the money saved for the children whenever a lunar year passes over it, and it is two and a half percent.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: I am a woman, my husband has passed away, and I have five children from him, aged (3, 9, 11, 13, 15). He left us a house as our property and a monthly salary (retirement). The guardian of the children is their grandfather (my father). People say: It is obligatory for me to record in a ledger everything I spend from the money,
whether on myself, the children, or the house, and that it is not permissible for me to go perform Hajj (the obligatory Hajj) from this salary or from the money my family and relatives give me. During one of the summer vacations, I traveled to the country of the UAE to visit relatives (my maternal uncles) with my sons, and they said: It is not permissible for me to do that (regarding the expenses). So my question is: Is all this talk correct, and what are the limits and Shari'ah conditions for my spending of this salary and all the money given? Is there zakah on it, and is it permissible for me to give charity from it or to buy household luxuries such as ornaments and decorations, or to change the furniture of the house, and so on? I ask you to inform me and advise me.
A: First: The monthly salary mentioned must be divided between you and your children according to the retirement system. Second: It is obligatory for the guardian to preserve the children's money from loss and to spend on them from it for food, drink, clothing, and other things they need. The guardian should develop the children's money until they reach the age of maturity, and it is not permissible for him to dispose of it except according to the stronger interest for them. Third: Zakah is obligatory on the money saved for the children whenever a lunar year passes over it, and it is two and a half percent.
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.