Fatwa No : 82254
The method of giving gifts and presents to children during one’s lifetime.

The method of giving gifts and presents to children during one’s lifetime.

Assalamu alaikum! My questions are of a very important and sensitive nature, and they relate to the property or gifts that parents may give to their children during their lifetime.
Question (1):
Can parents, during their lifetime, gift their property to their children? If they wish to do so, is it necessary that they give according to the rules of Islamic inheritance, or may they, of their own choice, give equally to both sons and daughters?
Question (2):
If parents, during their lifetime, gifted their property to their children and distributed it equally among them, with signatures of both the parents and the children present, but the process remained only on paper, meaning the legal transfer did not actually take place and the property still remained in the parents’ names then, after the parents’ death, will that gift remain valid? Or, according to Shariah, will the property have to be redistributed in accordance with the rules of inheritance?
I request that the answers to these questions be provided in the light of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

الجوابُ حامِدا ًو مُصلیِّا ً

It should be clear that every person, during his healthy lifetime, before falling into the terminal illness of death, is the sole owner of all his wealth and property. He may dispose of it in whatever way he wishes. It is not religiously required or obligatory upon him to distribute his wealth and property among his children during his lifetime, nor do the children have any right to compel him to do so.
Therefore, it is also not obligatory or necessary in Shariah for the questioner’s father to distribute his wealth and property among his children during his lifetime. However, if the father, out of his own free will and choice, without any compulsion or coercion, wishes to distribute his wealth and property among his children while he is still healthy, then such an act is permissible and valid in Shariah. But this is not considered a distribution of inheritance (taqseem-e-tarka); rather, it is called a gift (hiba).
The better way of doing this is that the father, keeping a careful estimate of what he will require for the remainder of his life, sets that aside, and then distributes the remaining wealth and property equally among his children (sons and daughters), handing over to each of them actual, formal possession of their share, so that the gift becomes complete and valid in Shariah. Merely writing down names on papers is not sufficient.
Furthermore, it is preferable that in such gifts and distributions, he treats all his children equally, since they are all his children not giving one less and another more. However, if he wishes to give something extra to one child due to reasons such as service to parents, need, or religious devotion, then he is permitted to do so. But without any valid Shariah reason, depriving any heir entirely from his wealth and property is sinful.
Therefore, if, as mentioned in the question, the parents, during their healthy lifetime, distributed their property among their children, giving each his or her share along with actual ownership and possession, then each child has already become the rightful owner of his or her share. Even if the property was not legally transferred into their names, the ruling of inheritance will not apply to that property after the parents’ death.

مأخَذُ الفَتوی

کما فی مشکاۃ المصابیح:وعن النعمان بن بشير أن أباه أتى به إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: إني نحلت ابني هذا غلاماً، فقال: «أكل ولدك نحلت مثله؟» قال: لا قال: «فأرجعه» و في روايةقال:«فاتقوا الله واعدلوا بين أولادكم»اھ (باب العطایا، ط: قدیمی1/261)۔
وفی رد المحتار"أقول: حاصل ما ذكره في الرسالة المذكورة أنه ورد في الحديث أنه صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: «سووا بين أولادكم في العطية ولو كنت مؤثرًا أحدًا لآثرت النساء على الرجال»، رواه سعيد في سننه وفي صحيح مسلم من حديث النعمان بن بشير: «اتقوا الله واعدلوا في أولادكم»، فالعدل من حقوق الأولاد في العطايا والوقف عطية فيسوي بين الذكر والأنثى، لأنهم فسروا العدل في الأولاد بالتسوية في العطايا حال الحياة. وفي الخانية : و لو وهب شيئًا لأولاده في الصحة، وأراد تفضيل البعض على البعض روي عن أبي حنيفة لا بأس به إذا كان التفضيل لزيادة فضل في الدين وإن كانوا سواء يكره، و روى المعلى عن أبي يوسف أنه لا بأس به إذا لم يقصد الإضرار وإلا سوى بينهم، وعليه الفتوى، و قال محمد : ويعطي للذكر ضعف الأنثى، وفي التتارخانية معزيًا إلى تتمة الفتاوى قال: ذكر في الاستحسان في كتاب الوقف :وينبغي للرجل أن يعدل بين أولاده في العطايا والعدل في ذلك التسوية بينهم في قول أبي يوسف وقد أخذ أبو يوسف حكم وجوب التسوية من الحديث، وتبعه أعيان المجتهدين، وأوجبوا التسوية بينهم وقالوا يكون آثما في التخصيص وفي التفضيل".اھ (4/444 الناشر: دار الفكر-بيروت)۔
و فی الھندیہ:واما شرائطھا:منھا ان یکون الموھوب مقبوضاحتی لا یثبت الملک للموھوب لہ قبل القبض،واما حکمھا فثبوت الملک للموھوب لہ اھ(4/347 الناشر: دار الفكر)۔