Is it permissible for a father to give one of his sons a piece of land to the exclusion of his other brothers, given that the son who received it built a house for his father?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions: Your Eminence, Shaykh, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The questioner : A questioner asks, saying: My father gave me a piece of land, and I have living brothers. Is this action by the father permissible? Please note that I had previously built a house for my father, and this was the action.
The Shaykh : The one who built it, the recipient?
The questioner : Yes, the recipient built a house. Is this gift or donation that his father gave him, distinguishing him from his brothers, permissible? Does it have any bearing on the inheritance? And is this matter to be returned after the father’s death, once he passes away? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
The basic principle is that it is not permissible for a father to give any of his children, whether sons or daughters, anything unless he gives the others the same, because Bashir ibn Sa’d al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) gave his son al-Nu’man ibn Bashir a gift, so he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to have him witness the gift to his son. He said to him:, and he also said to him: .
Therefore, it is not permissible for a father to give any of his children, whether sons or daughters, anything to the exclusion of the others, unless he gives the others the same, or unless they permit it and their hearts are pleased 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 a need, such as the need for financial maintenance or the need for marriage—for example, if one of them is wealthy and does not need his father’s maintenance, while the other is poor and needs his father’s maintenance—then he may provide for this poor one according to his need, and that is permissible even if he does not give to the other wealthy 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. However, it is obligatory for him, when the others reach marriageable age and wish to marry, to marry them just as he married the first one.
On this occasion, I point out an issue that some people do: a man has sons who have reached marriageable age, so he marries them, and he has young sons who have not yet reached marriageable age. He then makes a bequest to them, or bequeaths to them after his death an amount equal to what he gave their brothers. This bequest is forbidden and invalid. This is because his marrying the older ones was to meet their need, and these younger ones have not reached an age where they need to marry. So if he bequeaths to them after his death an amount equal to what he gave the others for their marriages, that is forbidden, invalid, and the bequest is not executed.
As for what the questioner brother mentioned, that the father granted his son land because he built a house for his father, the matter is looked into. If the father granted him this land and his intention was to reward him for building the house—meaning that from the outset, he did not accept his son’s voluntary act of building the house except with a reward—and he rewarded him with this land, which corresponds to the building of the house, then there is nothing wrong with it, just as if he had bought a need from him and paid him its price.
However, if the father accepted his son’s voluntary act of building the house and it did not cross his mind to reward him, then it is not permissible for him to give him land to the exclusion of his brothers. If it happens that he gave it to him, then it is obligatory for him, during his lifetime, to give the others what he gave him, or to return the land so that it becomes part of the wealth to be inherited after his death. If he dies before that, and the children permit this gift, then it is valid and effective, just as if they had permitted it during his lifetime. If they do not permit it, then it is returned to the inheritance and is inherited as part of his wealth.
Some scholars said: If the father dies before returning it, then it belongs to the one to whom it was given, and by doing so, he has committed a sin. But what we mentioned first, which is that it is obligatory for the recipient to return it to the estate if his brothers do not permit it, is the correct view, in order to clear the deceased’s conscience and to make the wealth lawful for the living. Yes.
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The questioner : A questioner asks, saying: My father gave me a piece of land, and I have living brothers. Is this action by the father permissible? Please note that I had previously built a house for my father, and this was the action.
The Shaykh : The one who built it, the recipient?
The questioner : Yes, the recipient built a house. Is this gift or donation that his father gave him, distinguishing him from his brothers, permissible? Does it have any bearing on the inheritance? And is this matter to be returned after the father’s death, once he passes away? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
The basic principle is that it is not permissible for a father to give any of his children, whether sons or daughters, anything unless he gives the others the same, because Bashir ibn Sa’d al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) gave his son al-Nu’man ibn Bashir a gift, so he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to have him witness the gift to his son. 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.
ألك بنون ؟ قال : نعم . قال : أنحلتهم مثل هذا ؟ قال : لا . فقال النبي صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم : اتقوا الله واعدلوا بين أولادكمI will not witness this, for I do not witness injustice.
أشهد على هذا غيري ، فإني لا أشهد على جورTherefore, it is not permissible for a father to give any of his children, whether sons or daughters, anything to the exclusion of the others, unless he gives the others the same, or unless they permit it and their hearts are pleased 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 a need, such as the need for financial maintenance or the need for marriage—for example, if one of them is wealthy and does not need his father’s maintenance, while the other is poor and needs his father’s maintenance—then he may provide for this poor one according to his need, and that is permissible even if he does not give to the other wealthy 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. However, it is obligatory for him, when the others reach marriageable age and wish to marry, to marry them just as he married the first one.
On this occasion, I point out an issue that some people do: a man has sons who have reached marriageable age, so he marries them, and he has young sons who have not yet reached marriageable age. He then makes a bequest to them, or bequeaths to them after his death an amount equal to what he gave their brothers. This bequest is forbidden and invalid. This is because his marrying the older ones was to meet their need, and these younger ones have not reached an age where they need to marry. So if he bequeaths to them after his death an amount equal to what he gave the others for their marriages, that is forbidden, invalid, and the bequest is not executed.
As for what the questioner brother mentioned, that the father granted his son land because he built a house for his father, the matter is looked into. If the father granted him this land and his intention was to reward him for building the house—meaning that from the outset, he did not accept his son’s voluntary act of building the house except with a reward—and he rewarded him with this land, which corresponds to the building of the house, then there is nothing wrong with it, just as if he had bought a need from him and paid him its price.
However, if the father accepted his son’s voluntary act of building the house and it did not cross his mind to reward him, then it is not permissible for him to give him land to the exclusion of his brothers. If it happens that he gave it to him, then it is obligatory for him, during his lifetime, to give the others what he gave him, or to return the land so that it becomes part of the wealth to be inherited after his death. If he dies before that, and the children permit this gift, then it is valid and effective, just as if they had permitted it during his lifetime. If they do not permit it, then it is returned to the inheritance and is inherited as part of his wealth.
Some scholars said: If the father dies before returning it, then it belongs to the one to whom it was given, and by doing so, he has committed a sin. But what we mentioned first, which is that it is obligatory for the recipient to return it to the estate if his brothers do not permit it, is the correct view, in order to clear the deceased’s conscience and to make the wealth lawful for the living. Yes.