Sunday, 5 April 2026 (17 Shawwal 1447 AH)
Question: An adult son works with his father on the father’s farms; he sells and buys. He is married, but his father does not give him what he needs. Is it permissible for this son to take what he needs from his father’s wealth without his father’s permission? And is it permissible for him to give a small gift to a friend who visits him—such as a bundle of qāt—in accordance with what is customary among friends?
Answer — and Allah is the One who grants success: An adult son who works with his father in his father’s wealth may take what he and his wife need, according to what is customary. Included in this is reciprocating a friend in the customary manner among friends. This is based on the report from the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace), who said to Hind: “Take what suffices you and your children, according to what is customary.” And because this son has a right in his father’s wealth earned by his work and effort. Allah Most High also said regarding the guardian of the orphan: “And whoever is rich should abstain, and whoever is poor may eat [from it] in a reasonable manner.” [Al-Nisa:6] Thus, the working son who is reforming his father’s wealth may be analogized to the poor guardian of the orphan. And it is related from some of the eminent Imams of the Prophet’s family (Peace be upon them) words to the effect: “I have placed myself with respect to the wealth of the Muslims in the position of the guardian of the orphan: if he is self-sufficient, he refrains; and if he is in need, he eats in a reasonable manner.” So this son working with his father may be analogized to the Imam of the Muslims—if he is self-sufficient, he refrains; and if he is in need, he eats in a reasonable manner.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.2