As-salamu aleikum, I know that you have to be fair between your children when you give them gifts. However, please tell me what is fair in the following circumstances. I live with my two daughters (both under 10 years old), while my son (who is 12) lives with his father. We are divorced. I haven't seen my son for several years and the father of the children doesn't pay nafaqah for my daughters. He is behaving very un-Islamically toward us (giving us a lot of problems) and only Allah knows if the girls will be able to marry a religious man in the future since their guardian is quite the opposite. Now I want to buy a little piece of land and write it in the name of my daughters because life is difficult here for females and I want them to be secure at least of a place to live. I do not have enough money to buy a piece of land for my son, too. Now can I buy this piece of land for my daughters with the intention to buy a piece for my son as soon as the money becomes available, inshallah? Land prices go up all the time so I don't want to delay it. Please advise, jazak Allahu khair.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

It is an obligation on the parents – whether it is the father or the mother – to be just when gifting their children according to the preponderant opinion of the scholars. However, if favoring a child over another (in gift giving) is for a considerable reason, like for a necessity and the like, then it is permissible to favor him/her because of this reason as we clarified in Fataawa 92564 and 89862. Therefore, if your two daughters are in need of being favored by what you mentioned in the question, then it is permissible for you to favor them.

Finally, it should be mentioned that the father is obligated to spend on his young children who have no money to spend on themselves. In case the father refuses to spend on them, and the mother spends on them with the intention of asking the father to reimburse her for that spending, then it is permissible for her to ask him to reimburse her. For more benefit, refer to Fatwa 85012.

Allaah Knows best.