The Criterion for Financial Maintenance of Relatives

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, what is the criterion for providing financial maintenance to relatives, and which one takes precedence?

Answer:
The criterion, as is well known, is first that the provider of maintenance must be an heir of the recipient if the recipient were to die, as Allah the Exalted said: . However, for the parents, inheritance is not a condition, and for the children, the condition of inheritance is not required. If there is an obstacle to inheritance, it does not prevent the obligation of maintenance.
As for the rest of the relatives, it is required that the provider of maintenance be an heir of the recipient, meaning that there is no one who blocks his right to inherit from them, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: . The second condition is that the relative must be unable to earn a living, meaning the relative must be unable to provide for himself or earn a living. If he is capable of earning a living, then it is not obligatory to provide for him if he is capable of earning. With these two conditions: first, that the provider of maintenance is an heir of the recipient through a direct line of descent. The second condition is that the relative is unable to earn a living and has no means of support, so he cannot provide for himself. Yes.