Is It Obligatory to Return a Gift If the Gift-Giver Asks for It Back?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
Am I obligated to repay a $5,000 gift offered without conditions, now that the giver is indirectly requesting it back, and the money has since been mixed with my savings and partially spent?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
If someone gifts you money, once you take possession of it, you may dispose of it as you please. [Maydani, al-Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab]
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.
He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.
In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
