I have three sons and four daughters. My wife asks me to distribute my wealth among the children during my lifetime. My question is whether this is permissible or not. Secondly, I live in Qatar, and my elder son, who is married, lost his job. So I paid his house rent for three years, amounting to QR.190,000/-, and I also gave him enough money to start a business. He did the business for six years, but in the end, he lost the whole investment. He promised to return the amount with profit, but he could not do so. So while distributing the wealth between my children, should I deduct the amount that has already been given to my son for house rent and for business purposes? Or should I treat it as help or a gift to my son? I asked my other sons for their opinion, and they said that whatever I decide will be acceptable. So please advise me on what should I do in this case. Thank you for your quick reply.

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

We have already stated in fatwa 154091 that it is permissible for a man to divide his money during his lifetime between his male and female children, and he is obliged to be just between them when gifting them, either by giving the female the same share as that of the male or half of the share of the male; which are two views of the scholars.

What you had paid to your son as rent is considered as an obligatory spending on you since he lost his job and was unable to pay the rent. It is obligatory on a rich father to spend on a poor child or a child who is unable to earn, whether he is truly unable to earn or this ruling applies to him, like when he is able to earn but cannot find a job, for example.

Shaykh Ibn Taymiyah was asked, “Is it obligatory on a rich father to spend on his insolvent son?”

He replied, “Yes, he is obliged to spend on his poor child reasonably if the child is poor and unable to earn money and the father is solvent.”

The Indian Fataawa reads, “The father is not obliged to spend on his adult male children, unless the child is unable to earn because of a disability (handicap) or illness, and the one who is able to work but does not do the work competently, he is like the one who is unable.”

Also, if the child is able to work but did not find work, then he is poor, as stated by the scholars of Fiqh.

Mughni Al-Muhtaaj reads, “If a person has an income but is prevented from it due to a sickness, or he did not find someone to employ him, or he found someone to employ him but it is not a suitable work for him, or he did not find lawful work, as will be discussed afterwards, then he is considered to be poor.”

If he is poor, then his rich father is obliged to spend on him.

With regard to the money that you gave to your son to trade with it, then if you had given him that money as a loan, you can ask him to give it back to you, but it is not permissible for you to stipulate a condition that he gives it back to you with profit, because this is interest. The loan is paid back exactly as the same amount, without any increase. You may deduct the loan from his share which you will give him when you divide your wealth among your children.

If you had given him the money as a Mudhaarabah [refer to fatwas 354718 and 81579 for definition] and not a loan, then you are not entitled to demand the money if he lost the money in business without any negligence on his part. The profit in a proper Mudhaarabah is shared between the trader and the owner of the money at an agreed-upon rate, such as a half, one third, a quarter, and so on. The loss is entirely borne by the owner of the money, and the trader does not bear any part of the loss.

The Fiqh encyclopedia reads, “The scholars agreed that a Mudhaarib (trader) in a Mudhaarabah transaction does not bear any part of the loss, and all the loss is upon the capital money owner; this is contrary to the profit, which is divided between them according to the condition (in the contract).”

Allah knows best.