Importance of Prayer & Ruling of its Abandonment
Facing the Qiblah & Intention in the Prayer
Etiquettes of Walking to Prayer and its Description
Description of Prayer Continued
Description of Prayer Continued
Description of Prayer Continued
Pillars and Mandatory Acts of Prayer
Two Prostrations of Forgetfulness
Supererogatory (Voluntary) Prayers
Supererogatory (Voluntary) Prayers Continued
Times of Prohibition of (Supererogatory) Prayer
Congregational Prayers & Latecomers
Jumu'ah (Congregational Friday) Prayer
Introduction & Commercial and Selling
Selling of Primary & Secondary Commodities
Cancellation Options in Transactions
Cancellation Options Continued
Debt Transference & Guarantor-ship
Mortgaging & Security Deposits
Partnership & Companies Continued
Reviving Barren Lands & Per-Job Wage
Lost and Found Property & Foundlings
Prize Money & Deposits for Safekeeping
Maintenance of Relatives and Slaves
It is mandatory to spend on one’s parents,1455 his grandparents however many generations up, his children and their descendants however many generations down,1456 and those from whom one inherits, whether in the form of designated shares (farḍ) or residuaries (ta‘ṣeeb).1457 This is the case
وَعَلىٰ اْلإِنْسَانِ نَفَقَةُ وَالِدَيْهِ وَإِنْ عَلَوْا، وَأَوْلاَدِهِ وَإِنْ سَفَلُوْا، وَمَنْ يَرِثُهُ بِفَرْضٍ أَوْ تَعْصِيْبٍ، إِذَا كَانُوْا فُقَرَاءَ، وَلَهُ مَا يُنْفِقُ
1455.In the case of parents who are poor, their maintenance is obligatory, by consensus, on their solvent children regardless of their gender.
1456.The Maintenance of Needy Older Children
(A) + (+H, +M, +s): Binding on the father, not the mother.
(-S): Binding on both solvent parents, 2/3 on the father and 1/3 on the mother.
If the older son is poor but capable of earning, there are two reports in the madh-hab concerning his father’s obligation to support him. (t) chose that his maintenance is only binding if he is incapable. The vast majority required the father to spend on his daughter until she marries.
(A) + (+H): The maintenance of young children is likewise binding on the father. If he dies, and there is a mother and a paternal grandfather, the mother is responsible for 1/3 and the grandfather for the rest.
1457.Aside from one’s young children and wife, the maintenance of the relatives is controversial. (-M): Only the parents and children are entitled to maintenance due to kinship. (a) + (-S): All the direct ancestors and descendants are entitled to maintenance. (A) + (+H): Additional relatives are entitled to maintenance.
(A): The relatives who are entitled to maintenance are those from whom one inherits if they leave an estate behind. On the side of (A) are the following words of Allah:
{…Upon the father is the mothers’ provision and their clothing according to what is acceptable. No person is charged with more than his capacity. No mother should be harmed through her child, and no father through his child. And upon the [father’s] heir is [a duty] like that [of the father]…} (al-Baqarah 2: 233)
وَعَلَى الْمَوْلُودِ لَهُ رِزْقُهُنَّ وَكِسْوَتُهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ ۚ لَا تُكَلَّفُ نَفْسٌ إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَا تُضَارَّ وَالِدَةٌ بِوَلَدِهَا وَلَا مَوْلُودٌ لَّهُ بِوَلَدِهِ ۚ وَعَلَى الْوَارِثِ مِثْلُ ذَٰلِكَ
when they are poor and one has money to spend on them. 1458
عَلَيْهِمْ
If a poor person has two or more heirs, his maintenance is binding on them in proportion to their shares of his inheritance. This excludes the son, because his father is already responsible for his maintenance.
وَإِنْ كَانَ لِلْفَقِيْرِ وَارِثَانِ فَأَكْثَرَ، فَنَفَقَتُهُ عَلَيْهِمْ عَلىٰ قَدْرِ مِيْرَاثِهِمْ، إلا الابن فَإِنَّ نَفَقَتَهُ عَلىٰ أَبِيْهِ خَاصَّة
It is binding on the masters of slaves to spend on them and to provide them with the food and clothing they need. If they fail to do that, then they will be forced to sell them if they (the slaves) demand it.
وَعَلىٰ مُلاَكِ الْمَمْلُوْكِيْنَ اْلإِنْفَاقُ عَلَيْهِمْ، وَمَا يَحْتَاجُوْنَ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ مُؤْنَةٍ وَكِسْوَةٍ. فَإِنْ لَمْ يَفْعَلُوْا، أُجْبِرُوْا عَلىٰ بَيْعِهِمْ، إِذَا طَلَبُوْا ذٰلِكَ
Notice that he made the maintenance of the infant’s mother binding on the infant’s heirs. (a) + (-M, -S): The verse is not conclusive and only addresses the case of the suckling infant. Also, the meaning of the heirs here is not agreed upon. They also cite the following hadith, in which the Prophet (SA) said:
“Giving charity to a poor person is charity, and (giving) to a relative is two things: charity and upholding the ties of kinship.” (T, N, Ma – from Salmân ibn ‘Âmir. Ibn Ḥajar:R)
نَّ الصَّدَقَةَ عَلَى الْمِسْكِينِ صَدَقَةٌ وَعَلَى ذِي الرَّحِمِ اثْنَتَانِ صَدَقَةٌ وَصِلَةٌ
Notice that he considered giving to a relative as a form of charity. Still, it is not conclusive since the relative here is not necessarily one who is inherited from.
The position of (a) + (-S) may be more practical for our times. The Prophet (SA) did not leave behind clear and detailed instructions concerning the maintenance of relatives. Therefore, keeping the obligation specific to the ancestors and descendants, and urging wealthy people to be generous towards their kin, seems to be the most suitable way for our times.
1458.These conditions are always applicable to all relatives and in all madh-habs, except that (A) has a peculiar position concerning the father; he allows the father, regardless of his financial status, to take from his son as long as this does not harm the son and he is not taking from one son to give to another. (a) + (-H, -M, -S): The father is only allowed to take from his son to cover his needs.
( Page : no 133)