Financial Support for Children from the Charity of the Disabled

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings. I am a married woman with seven children, and their father does not provide for them. I have a disabled son and a disabled daughter, and I am unable to provide for them. Instead, I present the circumstances of these two disabled children to people of good, and they give charity to them. I then spend this charity on these two disabled children and on their siblings. Is there any sin on me for this? I also see in my dreams that there are things in my throat that I try to swallow but cannot, and I also smell a foul odor. Please advise us, may Allah reward you.

Answer:
It is obligatory for their parents to provide for them, and you may take the matter to the court so that he is compelled to provide for his children. Whatever was set aside for the disabled ones is to be preserved for them; he spends from it on them and preserves it for them. If the need arises to spend from it on their siblings and on you, there is no harm in that, because financial maintenance becomes obligatory upon a relative when the need arises and he is able to do so. If you are in need of what is spent on them, you and your children, and what is in it, it is permissible, and you have the right to take maintenance from it. However, if you are self-sufficient, then accumulate for them what was spent on them. But in case of need, there is no objection to your using what was spent on them for yourself and your children when in need. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, says: So providing maintenance from it for his siblings and his mother is an obligatory matter, provided he has the ability. If the disabled ones have wealth, and wealth becomes available for them, and their siblings are in need and you are in need, then you all eat from it.