Can You Elaborate Does a Father Own His Son’s Wealth?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Can you elaborate on this hadith (below)? Like, who owns the wealth of a son? Rulings about how and when a father can take wealth from his son? Does the same apply to a mother (like if her husband is deceased)? And so on.
O Messenger of Allah, I have wealth and a son, and my father wants to take all my wealth.” He said: “You and your wealth belong to your father.”
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
Jabir bin ‘Abdullah (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a man said: “O Messenger of Allah, I have wealth and a son, and my father wants to take all my wealth.” He said: “You and your wealth belong to your father.”
[Ibn Maja]
Wealth of Son
The son owns his earned wealth. The context of the hadith is that the father needed expenses, and the son refused to spend on his father. The Messenger of Allah, therefore, emphasized the need to spend on his father by exaggerating the father’s control of the son’s wealth.
This also does not mean that a father has a right over his sons’ wealth to pay for any type of financial obligation. It simply means that a father has a right to exercise his son’s wealth to pay for his expenses, i.e., shelter, food, and clothing if he is in need. This also applies to one’s mother when she is in need.
Purest Form of Earnings
A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “The most pure (of earnings) is what a man consumes from his own earnings, and his child is from his earnings.” [Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud; Ibn Maja]
“The Hadith means that if your father is in need, he is allowed to take a portion from your wealth that suffices for his basics and not that he may take all your wealth since this wasn`t approved by any of the scholars.”
[Munawi, Faid al-Qadir]
“A wealthy son will be obligated to spend on his poor parents, whether they are Muslims or otherwise, and whether they can earn themselves or otherwise.”
[Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya]
I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.
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- How Can I Take Care Of My Parents? – SeekersGuidance
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- Who Is Supposed to Carry the Burden of Financial Responsibility within a Family?
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
