The ruling on a father giving to one of his children to the exclusion of his siblings
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
My father gave me a piece of land, and I have living siblings. Knowing that I had built him a house before that, perhaps he gave me this land as a reward for the house I built for him. Is this action permissible? And does this land have to be returned to the heirs after my father’s death? May Allah reward you with good.
The principle is that it is not permissible for a father to give anything to any of his sons or daughters unless he gives the others the same; because Bashir ibn Sa'd al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) gave a gift to his son al-Nu'man ibn Bashir, so he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to have him witness the gift to his son,So he said to him: (Do you have sons?He said: Yes.
He said: Have you given them the same as this?He said: No.
So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Fear Allah and be just among your children) And he also said to him: (I will not witness this, for I do not witness injustice) So it is not permissible for a father to give something to one of his children, whether a son or a daughter, to the exclusion of the others, unless he gives the others the same, or unless they permit it and are content with it of their own free will and consent, and they are of sound mind. In that case, there is nothing wrong with it. Otherwise, if the giving is to meet the need of maintenance or the need of marriage, such as one of them being rich and not needing his father’s maintenance, and the second being poor and needing his father’s maintenance, he provides for this poor one according to his need. That is permissible even if he does not give to the other rich one. Likewise, if one of the sons needs to get married and he marries him, he is not required to give the others what he gave this one for his marriage. But he must, when the others reach the age of marriage and want to get married, marry them as he married the first one.
On this occasion, I point out an issue that some people do,and she: which is that he has children who have reached the age of marriage, so he marries them, and he has young children who have not reached the age of marriage. He then bequeaths to them after his death an amount equal to what he gave their siblings. This bequest is forbidden and invalid. This is because his marrying the older ones was to meet their need, and these young ones have not reached an age where they need marriage. So if he bequeaths to them after his death an amount equal to what he gave the others for their marriage, that is forbidden, it is not valid, and the bequest is not executed.
As for what the brother questioner mentioned, that the father gave his son a piece of land because he built a house for his father, it is looked into. If the father gave him this land and his intention was as a reward for building the house, meaning that from the start he did not accept his son’s donation of building the house except with a reward, and he rewarded him with this land which corresponds to building the house, then there is nothing wrong with it, just as if he bought a need from him and paid him its price.
And if the father accepted his son’s donation of building the house, and it did not cross his mind to reward him, then it is not permissible for him to give him a piece of land to the exclusion of his siblings. And if he did give it to him, he must, during his lifetime, give the others what he gave him, or return the land so that it becomes part of the wealth that is inherited after him. If he dies before that, and the children permit this gift, it is valid and executed, just as if they had permitted it during his lifetime. And if they do not permit it, it is returned to the inheritance and is inherited as part of his wealth.And some of the scholars of knowledge said: If the father dies before returning it, it belongs to the one it was given to, and by doing so he has sinned. But what we mentioned first, which is that it is obligatory for the one who was given it to return it if his siblings do not permit it, is the correct view; to clear the deceased’s responsibility, and to make the wealth lawful from the side of the living.
The principle is that it is not permissible for a father to give anything to any of his sons or daughters unless he gives the others the same; because Bashir ibn Sa'd al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) gave a gift to his son al-Nu'man ibn Bashir, so he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to have him witness the gift to his son,So he said to him: (Do you have sons?He said: Yes.
He said: Have you given them the same as this?He said: No.
So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Fear Allah and be just among your children) And he also said to him: (I will not witness this, for I do not witness injustice) So it is not permissible for a father to give something to one of his children, whether a son or a daughter, to the exclusion of the others, unless he gives the others the same, or unless they permit it and are content with it of their own free will and consent, and they are of sound mind. In that case, there is nothing wrong with it. Otherwise, if the giving is to meet the need of maintenance or the need of marriage, such as one of them being rich and not needing his father’s maintenance, and the second being poor and needing his father’s maintenance, he provides for this poor one according to his need. That is permissible even if he does not give to the other rich one. Likewise, if one of the sons needs to get married and he marries him, he is not required to give the others what he gave this one for his marriage. But he must, when the others reach the age of marriage and want to get married, marry them as he married the first one.
On this occasion, I point out an issue that some people do,and she: which is that he has children who have reached the age of marriage, so he marries them, and he has young children who have not reached the age of marriage. He then bequeaths to them after his death an amount equal to what he gave their siblings. This bequest is forbidden and invalid. This is because his marrying the older ones was to meet their need, and these young ones have not reached an age where they need marriage. So if he bequeaths to them after his death an amount equal to what he gave the others for their marriage, that is forbidden, it is not valid, and the bequest is not executed.
As for what the brother questioner mentioned, that the father gave his son a piece of land because he built a house for his father, it is looked into. If the father gave him this land and his intention was as a reward for building the house, meaning that from the start he did not accept his son’s donation of building the house except with a reward, and he rewarded him with this land which corresponds to building the house, then there is nothing wrong with it, just as if he bought a need from him and paid him its price.
And if the father accepted his son’s donation of building the house, and it did not cross his mind to reward him, then it is not permissible for him to give him a piece of land to the exclusion of his siblings. And if he did give it to him, he must, during his lifetime, give the others what he gave him, or return the land so that it becomes part of the wealth that is inherited after him. If he dies before that, and the children permit this gift, it is valid and executed, just as if they had permitted it during his lifetime. And if they do not permit it, it is returned to the inheritance and is inherited as part of his wealth.And some of the scholars of knowledge said: If the father dies before returning it, it belongs to the one it was given to, and by doing so he has sinned. But what we mentioned first, which is that it is obligatory for the one who was given it to return it if his siblings do not permit it, is the correct view; to clear the deceased’s responsibility, and to make the wealth lawful from the side of the living.