He was the cause of his grandfather losing his Social Security pension; is he liable for that?

Question: 198438

Ten or more years ago, my paternal grandfather was not working because he was old, and he was given a sum of money every year by Social Security. Then I registered a company in his name, and I registered employees too, then after that he lost the Social Security pension that he used to get every year, because of the company I registered in his name. Of course all the money earned by the company was for me, because I was a government employee and I was not allowed to open a company. Hence I had no choice but to use my grandfather’s name, which I did with his consent. Please note that my grandfather did not understand anything because of his great age, as he had reached the age of nearly eighty years. Then he died (may Allah have mercy on him) approximately 5 years after the date of registering the company. After he died, I fired all the workers who had been under his sponsorship, and I shut down the company.

My question now is:

Am I liable for his pension during these five years that he used to get from Social Security, that was withheld from him by Social Security because of my registering a company in his name and changing his profession from pensioner to businessman?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.

Firstly:

If
your grandfather had given you permission to do that, and he was in his
right mind and aware of the consequences that would result from his giving
you permission, then you are not liable for what resulted from that of his
being deprived of his pension.

Al-Kaasaani
said: The one who is given permission is not liable for the consequences of
an action for which he was given permission.

End
quote from Badaa’i‘ as-Sanaa’i‘, 7/305

As-Subki
said: Approval of a thing means approval of what results from it.

End
quote from al-Ishtibaah wa’n-Nazaa’ir, 1/152

Ibn
al-Qayyim said: The one who is given permission to do an action is not
liable for the consequences result from it.

End
quote from I‘laam al-Muwaqqi‘een, 2/33

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said: A person is not liable for anything that may
result from an action for which permission was given; if no permission was
given, then he is liable.

End
quote from Manzoomah fi Usool al-Fiqh, p. 15

Secondly:

If
your grandfather was not aware of anything at the time when you registered
the company in his name, then his consent is not valid, according to
sharee‘ah.

As
you were the cause of his losingof his Social Security pension, then you are
liable for his pension for the five years during which he stopped receiving
it. Liability usually occurs when damage is caused to something or its owner
is caused to miss out on its benefits.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: Damage is of two types: damaging
something that exists or causing the loss of benefits of something that did
not come about when it should have been there.

End
quote from al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 5/406

The
total sum of money should be distributed to his heirs in accordance with the
shares dictated by sharee‘ah.

And
Allah knows best.

Source:

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