Is it permissible for a person to distribute his wealth among his heirs while he is still alive?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah reward you with good. Is it permissible for a person to divide his estate among the heirs while he is still alive?
The Shaykh : He asks: Is it permissible for a person to distribute his wealth among his heirs while he is still alive? We say: This is foolishness, foolishness in reason. Because if he distributes it while he is alive, does he know that those to whom he distributed it are the ones who will remain after him? Is it not possible that they might die before him? So how can he distribute it to them?
Second: If he distributes it to them, and they are among those from whom he cannot take back his gift, such as brothers for example, and then he needs to take it back, and his need arises, and it is not just a hypothetical possibility, meaning: is it possible that he will need it?
The questioner : It is possible that he will need it.
The Shaykh : After he has distributed it now, he has not a single qirsh left. Is it possible that he will need it, or not?The questioner : It is possible that he will need it.
The Shaykh : And if he needs it, and the dirhams are with others, he remains poor. For this reason, we say: This is foolishness. Wait for death, and may Allah make your ending good. If it does not come to you today, it will come to you tomorrow.
The questioner : He says to you: I am old, that is enough?
The Shaykh : Wrong, wrong. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said:[An-Nisa 4:12]: So He made the thing after its leaving. And a person does not leave it except when he departs this world. When he departs it by death, then it is divided.
And as I told you:
First: He does not know whether these people will die before him, or whether he will die before them.
And second: He does not know that perhaps he will need it in the future. This old man, if he is struck by an illness that requires thousands of dirhams, where will he get them from?
The Shaykh : He asks: Is it permissible for a person to distribute his wealth among his heirs while he is still alive? We say: This is foolishness, foolishness in reason. Because if he distributes it while he is alive, does he know that those to whom he distributed it are the ones who will remain after him? Is it not possible that they might die before him? So how can he distribute it to them?
Second: If he distributes it to them, and they are among those from whom he cannot take back his gift, such as brothers for example, and then he needs to take it back, and his need arises, and it is not just a hypothetical possibility, meaning: is it possible that he will need it?
The questioner : It is possible that he will need it.
The Shaykh : After he has distributed it now, he has not a single qirsh left. Is it possible that he will need it, or not?The questioner : It is possible that he will need it.
The Shaykh : And if he needs it, and the dirhams are with others, he remains poor. For this reason, we say: This is foolishness. Wait for death, and may Allah make your ending good. If it does not come to you today, it will come to you tomorrow.
The questioner : He says to you: I am old, that is enough?
The Shaykh : Wrong, wrong. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said:
And for you is half of what your wives leave
وَلَكُمْ نِصْفُ مَا تَرَكَ أَزْوَاجُكُمْAnd as I told you:
First: He does not know whether these people will die before him, or whether he will die before them.
And second: He does not know that perhaps he will need it in the future. This old man, if he is struck by an illness that requires thousands of dirhams, where will he get them from?