You are not obliged to spend on your mother if she is not in need Fatwa No: 186187
- Fatwa Date:7-9-2012
Respected Scholar, I give some money from my earnings to my mother and she gives that money to my brother or other and they spent it for the purpose of show off. Is that permissible to me stop to help my mother. Is that obligation on me to spend on my nieces ? (If mother says to help them). Jazakallah 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.
If your mother is not needy, then you are not obliged to spend on her and she has no right to take your money and give it to some of her other children, especially if they will spend it inappropriately. Therefore, you are permitted to stop giving her money if she is solvent.
As regards your nieces, then if they are poor and there is no one to support them, you are obliged to spend on them if you are entitled to inherit from them (in case of their death) according to the preponderant view we adopt here at Islamweb; this may occur if their father has passed away and they have no brothers. Otherwise you are not obliged to spend on them, for example, in the case their father is still alive and well off, or that they have brothers who are solvent. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 83470.
However, if you volunteer to support them financially, then this is an act of kindness and you will be rewarded for it, especially if your mother asks you to do so. Also, helping your mother with some money – even if she is not in need – is a righteous act that is one of the most loved deeds to Allaah.
Allaah Knows best.