Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Salaam,

I am writing this for knowing details about distribution of property by parents.

we are 1 sister and 3 brothers. The sister is married and my parents gave a very big house as gift to her. her husband was later found to be not good but she is continuing it.

we are 3 brothers and we took a loan to reconstruct or existing home. we made three flours for each.

in the ground floor my mom wants to give it to my sister.

we want to know is it allowed to give daughter more property than the sons. i cannot ask any question to them but i want to atleast know this. please advice me as per islamic rules and parents rights.

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Answer:

Inheritance rights & gift property

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 3523 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As

A man came to the Prophet (saws) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah (saws), I have property and children, and my father finishes (or uses) my property.’ He (saws) replied: ‘You and your property (both) belong to your father! Your children come from the best of what you earn; so enjoy from the earning of your children.’

Respected brother in Islam, in principle, as long as the father is alive, he remains the inherent owner of his wealth…and he is well within his rights to gift all or part of his wealth to whomsoever he wills and pleases.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 3.818 Narrated by An Numan bin Bashir

My mother asked my father to present me a gift from his property; and he gave it to me after some hesitation. My mother said that she would not be satisfied unless the Prophet (saws) was made a witness to it. I being a young boy, my father held me by the hand and took me to the Prophet (saws). He said to the Prophet (saws), "His mother, bint Rawaha, requested me to give this boy a gift." The Prophet (saws) said, "Do you have other children besides him?" He said, "Yes." The Prophet (saws) said, "Do not make me a witness for injustice."

Respected brother, as long as your father is alive, he is the inherent owner of his wealth, and he is well within his legal rights to gift a part or even all of his wealth to whomever he wills and pleases. But if one has more than one off-spring, it would indeed be considered injustice in the Sight of Allah for the father to give more to one off-spring than the others.

Hence brother, if the property is in your parents name and in their life time they wish to gift it to anyone of you or for that matter anyone else, they are within their rights according to Islamic jurisprudence.

The Muslim inheritance law as per the Quran will only apply on their demise.

Only the wealth/properties which legally belonged to the father at the time of his death will be distributed to his legal heirs after his death as inheritance according to the ratios prescribed by Allah Subhanah in His Glorious Quran. Any cash/wealth/properties which the father gifted to anyone when he is alive will legally belong to those people alone and will not be considered amongst the inheritance left behind by the deceased father.

If you have spent your money in extending the existing floors etc., it is important you come to an agreement of share holding with your parents, otherwise in the absence of any understanding the property will belong to the one in whose name it is registered.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is only ones. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

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