He gave his wife gold and they had an argument; does he have the right to ask for it back?
Question: 165849
I am a married man, and there was an argument between me and my wife. Now I want her to give back the gold I gave to her at the time of marriage, so that I will give her the rest of the things that belonged to her that I have with me.
Is it Islamically permissible for me to ask to be given back things that I gave her apart from the mahr?.
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.
If a man gives his
wife gold that is not part of the mahr, if his intention was to give it as a
gift, then the gold has become her property, and it is not permissible for
him to take back this gift.
Al-Bukhaari (2589)
and Muslim (1622) narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him)
said: The Prophet (sa) said: “The one who takes back his gift is like the
dog which vomits then goes back to its vomit.”
Al-Bukhaari (2622)
also narrated: “We are not like the bad example of the one who takes back
his gift; he is like a dog that goes back to its vomit.”
This hadeeth
indicates that it is haraam to take back a gift.
The scholars of
the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked: A man gave his entire
house and all the furniture in it as a gift to his wife; can he take back
his gift, and how?
They replied:
If the wife has
not taken possession of what her husband gave her in a way that is
customarily regarded as taking possession of something, then he may take
back his gift. Hoever, this is not regarded as dignified conduct, because
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The one who
takes back his gift is like the dog that goes back to its vomit.” If she has
taken possession of it in a manner that may be regarded as attaining
ownership according to custom, then it has become her property and he cannot
take it back, according to Islam, except with her consent. Nevertheless, if
he takes it back after she willingly returned it to him, that is contrary to
decency and dignified conduct. If they disagree concerning the gift and what
is regarded as taking possession of it, then the matter should be settled in
the sharee‘ah courts.
End quote from
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah, 16/247
Shaykh ‘Abd
al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Razzaaq ‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abdullah ibn
Munay ‘
But if he gave her
the gold as a loan, to use it and wear it as an adornment, and it is still
his property, then this gold belongs to the husband, and is not the wife’s
property, so he may ask her to return it to him.
And Allah knows best.
Source:
Islam Q&A
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