Q235 :May I seek a clarification of what you have
mentioned previously of the necessity to make gifts to children equal.
Does this mean that if a person divides his wealth among his children
during his lifetime, he should divide it equally among his sons and
daughters?
A235 : It is the duty of a father to bring up his
children maintaining equality between them. This applies to everything
that helps them through life, whether it is moral or material. It is
not permissible for a father to show favoritism to one of his children.
In some netmunities, sons are given preference over daughters. In
Islam, this is not permissible. If a father provides his son with a
good standard of education he is supposed to provide his daughter with
a similar standard of education. Similarly, if a father gives a gift to
one of his children, he should give similar gifts to the rest of his
children, sons and daughters alike. Some people think that since the
shares of inheritance differ between sons and daughters, gifts can also
differ and they assign to their daughters only half of the gifts they
give to their sons. This is a wrong approach, because the needs of
children in life are equal. Moreover, they stand in the same
relationship to their father. Therefore, total equality should be
maintained between them. Gifts cannot be treated as inheritance because
the death of a father places certain responsibilities on his sons but
not on his daughters. The Principle of equality relies on the
following Hadith which we have often quoted in these columns:
“An-Nu’man ibn Basheer reports that his father took him to the Prophet
and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I have given this son of mine a slave as
a gift and I wish you to witness that.’ The Prophet asked him: ‘Have
you given everyone of your children a similar gift?’ He said: ‘No.’ The
Prophet said: ‘Then seek for yourself some other witness because I do
not witness injustice’.” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim). It is to
be noted that the Prophet’s question to his netpanion inquires whether
he had given everyone of his children, not everyone of his sons,
similar gifts. When we deduce a ruling on the basis of a Qur’anic verse
or Hadith, we must bear in mind that every word included in such a
statement is deliberately chosen to convey an intended meaning. The
Qur’an, Allah’s word, does not admit any deficiency or error. It is not
possible to assume that anything has been missed out, overlooked or
forgotten. Allah does not forget anything. Similarly, when the Prophet
gives a ruling in a particular situation, he does so on the basis of
revelation which he receives from One High. Therefore, his statements
must be treated as having been carefully considered. The fact that the
Prophet has said to his netpanions, “Have you given everyone of your
children similar gifts, means that the question applies to sons and
daughters, since the term “children” includes both. Had it been the
case that gifts should be treated in the same way as inheritance, the
Prophet would have outlined that. In the light of the above, the
answer to your question is that if a person wants to divide his wealth
among his children during his lifetime, he should treat his sons and
daughters equally.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )