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Does my father have the right to take whatever he wants of my wealth?

Question: 9594

I have always heard that music, singing and dancing are haram in
My father keeps quoting a hadith that says all that a son posesses belongs to his father. Is this correct?
If so, does this mean that a father can take part of or all of the son’s posession against his son’s will?
I am aware that it is the duty of the son / daughter to look after the parents, be kind to them and ensure that they are fed, clothed and have somewhere to live. Can a father really take his son’s posessions (both alive, both not in dire need) again his son’s wishes?

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

1.The
hadeeth is:

It was
narrated from Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah that a man said: “O Messenger of
Allaah, I have wealth and children, but my father wants to take all my
wealth.” He said, “You and your wealth are for your father.”
(Narrated by Ibn Maajah, 2291; Ibn Hibbaan in his Saheeh,
2/142 from the hadeeth of Jaabir, and 2922; Ahmad, 6902 from the hadeeth
of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr).

And Ahmad narrated from ‘Amr ibn
Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather, who said: A Bedouin came
to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) and said: “My father wants to take all my wealth.” He said,
“You and your wealth are for your father. The best that you can eat is
what you have earned, and your children’s wealth is part of what you
have earned, so eat it and enjoy it.”

This
report has other isnaads and corroborating reports which make it saheeh.

 

(See Fath
al-Baari, 5/211; Nasb
al-Raayah,3/337)

2.The
laam in the hadeeth (li
in li abeeka – for your
father) does not mean possession, rather it means permission.

 Ibn
al-Qayyim said: 

The laam
in the hadeeth does not mean possession at all… If we say that it means
permission, then the hadeeth makes sense, otherwise it does not have any
significance.

 

(I’laam
al-Muwaqqi’een, 1/116)

 

3.One
of the things which indicate that it does not mean possession is the fact
that the son’s children, wife and mother can inherit from him. If his
wealth were the property of his father, no one would be able to take his
property except the father.

 

Al-Shaafa’i
said:

Because
it was not proven. When Allaah decreed that a father could inherit from
his son, He made him (the father) like other heirs. He may even have a
smaller share than many other heirs, which proves that the son is the
owner of his own wealth, not the father.

(al-Risaalah,
p. 468)

4.This
permission is not absolute. It is subject to four conditions.

 

Shaykh
Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah preserve him) said:

This
hadeeth is not da’eef (weak) because it has corroborating reports. What
this means is that if he (the son) has wealth, the father has the right to
enjoy that wealth and to take whatever he wants from it, but this is
subject to certain conditions:

 The
first condition: that by taking it he does not cause harm to his son. If
it does cause harm – such as taking his cover with which he protects
himself from the cold, or he takes his food with which he wards off hunger
–it is not permissible for the father to do this.

The
second condition: it should not be something that the son needs. If the
son has a concubine whom he sleeps with, it is not permissible for the
father to take her, because his son needs her. Similarly, if the son has a
car which he needs for getting about, and he does not have enough cash to
buy a replacement, then the father does not have the right to take it
under any circumstances.

The
third condition: he should not take the wealth from one of his sons in
order to give it to another, because this creates enmity between the sons
and because it means preferring one of the children over another, if the
second son is not in need. If he is in need, then the father’s giving
something to the one who is in need and not to the ones who are not in
need, does not mean that he is preferring one child over another; on the
contrary, it is obligatory for him to do this.

Whatever
the case, the hadeeth is something which the scholars refer to and use as
evidence. But there are conditions attached, as we have mentioned. The
father does not have the right to take one son’s wealth and give it to
another son.

And Allaah knows best.
 

(Fataawa
Islamiyyah,4/108, 109)

There is also a fourth condition, which is that the father should be in
need of the wealth that he is taking from his son. This condition is
clearly stated in some ahaadeeth.

It was narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said:
the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “Your children are a gift from Allaah to you: ‘He
bestows female (offspring) upon whom He wills, and bestows male
(offspring) upon whom He wills’ [al-Shoora 42:49 – interpretation of
the meaning]. So they and their wealth are for you, if you have
need of it.”

(narrated by al-Haakim, 2/284; al-Bayhaqi, 7/480)

The hadeeth was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah
al-Saheehah, 2564, where he says:

This hadeeth contains an important fiqhi point which is that it explains
that the famous hadeeth, “You and your wealth are for your father” (al-Irwaa’
838) does not give the father absolute permission to take whatever he
wants from his son’s wealth. Far from it! But he may take whatever he is
in need of.

And Allaah knows best.

Source

Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

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