Is the gift to children given to the male as the share of two females, or equally?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, may Allah preserve you. A man wants to divide money among his children. Does he give the male the share of two females, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted in the verse: [An-Nisa 4:11] Or does he divide it equally among them, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And if he does the former in his lifetime and then dies, does he have to take back what the males received and give it to the females? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : First: we ask, is what he gave maintenance or an extra donation? If it is maintenance, he gives each person what they need, whether little or much. So if it is determined that one of the children needs to get married, he marries him, and he does not give the others the same amount. And if we suppose that one of the daughters fell ill and he spent a large sum on her medicine, he does not give the others.
But if it is a donation, he gives the male the share of two females, because there is no division fairer than the division of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So if he gives the male one hundred, he gives the female fifty. And he does not take back what he gave the males after his death, because this is a right and justice that the male has the share of two females.
The questioner : And what about the hadith, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : The hadith says: And justice among them is following what the Sunnah indicates, and what the Shari'ah indicates. This is justice.
Therefore, we should know the difference between justice and equality. Now, many people say: Islam is the religion of equality. This is wrong. The word "equality" is not in the Qur'an, nor is the statement that people are equal. Rather, if you reflect, you will find that most of what is in the Qur'an is the negation of equality:[Al-Hadid 57:10], [An-Nisa 4:95], [Ar-Ra'd 13:16] and the like. So most of what is in the Qur'an is the negation of equality where there is a difference between them.
In the Qur'an, there is justice:[An-Nahl 16:90], [Al-Ma'idah 5:8]. And there is a difference between justice and equality. If we took the apparent meaning of the word "equality," we would say: the male and the female are equal, as the Westernized people now call for. But if we say justice, we give the male what he deserves and the female what she deserves. For this reason, we hope our brothers, the writers and non-writers, will pay attention to this point, because the word "equality" was introduced by some of the contemporaries. Allah knows best how they introduced it. It may be due to a misunderstanding, or it may be an imitation of the disbelievers and the writers of the disbelievers. The religion is the religion of justice, and justice is giving everyone what they deserve.
Allah instructs you concerning your children
يُوصِيكُمُ اللَّهُ فِي أَوْلادِكُمْBe just among your sons
اعدلوا بين أبنائكمThe Shaykh : First: we ask, is what he gave maintenance or an extra donation? If it is maintenance, he gives each person what they need, whether little or much. So if it is determined that one of the children needs to get married, he marries him, and he does not give the others the same amount. And if we suppose that one of the daughters fell ill and he spent a large sum on her medicine, he does not give the others.
But if it is a donation, he gives the male the share of two females, because there is no division fairer than the division of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So if he gives the male one hundred, he gives the female fifty. And he does not take back what he gave the males after his death, because this is a right and justice that the male has the share of two females.
The questioner : And what about the hadith, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : The hadith says:
Be just among your sons
اعدلوا بين أبنائكمTherefore, we should know the difference between justice and equality. Now, many people say: Islam is the religion of equality. This is wrong. The word "equality" is not in the Qur'an, nor is the statement that people are equal. Rather, if you reflect, you will find that most of what is in the Qur'an is the negation of equality:
Not equal among you are those who spent before the conquest [of Makkah] and fought
لا يَسْتَوِي مِنْكُمْ مَنْ أَنْفَقَ مِنْ قَبْلِ الْفَتْحِ وَقَاتَلَNot equal are those believers remaining [at home] - other than the disabled
لا يَسْتَوِي الْقَاعِدُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ غيرُ أولي الضَّرَرSay, "Is the blind equivalent to the seeing? Or is darkness equivalent to light?
قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الْأَعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ أَمْ هَلْ تَسْتَوِي الظُّلُمَاتُ وَالنُّورُIn the Qur'an, there is justice:
