Al-Kāfī - Ibn Abd al-Barr - (2/1008)

Chapter: Charity

Any property that a legally competent person gives away from his own wealth in the form of charity is irrevocable, for charity belongs to Allah, and whatever is dedicated to Allah may no longer be disposed of. This applies equally whether the donor is a father giving to a minor or an adult son, or anyone else; none of them may reclaim it, nor may they seek any recompense for it. The only exception is that if the recipient dies and the donor inherits from him, the donor may lawfully take possession of the property—this is not considered a revocation of the charity. It is nevertheless disliked for the donor to buy it back, to ask for it as a gift, or to accept it if it is offered to him.

If someone gives his son a specified sum of dinars or dirhams—without identifying the individual coins—and summons witnesses, the transfer is valid provided the witnesses testify that those very coins, in their pouch and with its seal intact, are the ones given. Some jurists, however, maintain that it is not valid for the son unless the father removes the money from his own possession and places it with a just custodian who will hold it on the child’s behalf.

When a father donates a specific piece of gold or silver to his minor son, separates it from his own assets, and calls witnesses to the act, but later borrows it, spends it, and dies while still owing it, the son has no claim to it and may not pursue it against his father’s estate. The father’s borrowing of it is deemed a retraction of the gift, according to the report of Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam from Malik. If, on the other hand, the father had handed it over to a neutral custodian who held it for the boy, the charity would stand; and if the father then died, the amount would be taken from his estate for his minor son.

Similarly, if a man gives his son a specific item as charity, the son receives it and then returns it to his father, and the father dies while still in possession of it, the property reverts to the estate as inheritance. It does not belong to the son unless the father had set it apart for him and placed it with a trustworthy third party. This ruling reflects the inherent weakness of a father’s charitable gift of particular property when he has not

باب الصدقه وكل ما تصدق به الانسان الذي يجوز فيه تصرفه في ماله واخرجه على وجه الصدقه عن نفسه فلا رجوع له فيه لأن الصدقه لله وما كان لله فلا يتصرف فيه وسواء كان المتصدق أبا على ابن صغير او كبير او غير الاب من سائر الناس كلهم لا رجعة له فيها ولاثواب عليها الا ان المتصدق عليه لو مات وورثه المتصدق جاز له تملكها وحل له وليس ذلك برجوع في الصدقه ويكره له شراؤها واستهابتها وقبولها ان وهبت له ومن تصدق على ابن له بدنانير او دراهم مقدره غير معينه واشهد عليها جاز اذا أشهد الشهود انها تلك بعينها في ظرفها والخاتم عليها وقد قيل لا تجوز للابن الا ان يخرجها من يده الى يد عدل يحوزها لابنه واذا تصدق الاب بعين ذهب او ورق على ابن له صغير وابرزها عن ماله وأشهد له بها ثم انه استسلفها واستهلكها ومات وهي عليه فلا حق لابنه فيها ولا تباعه في مال ابيه واستسلاف الاب لها بمنزلة الرجوع منه في الهبة عندهم هذه رواية ابن عبد الحكم عن مالك ولو اخرجها عن يده الى عدل يحوزها للابن وجازت له ولو مات الاب اخذت من ماله لابنه الصغير ولو تصدق الرجل على ابنه بصدقه من العين فقبضها الابن ثم اعادها الى ابيه فمات الاب وهي عنده رجعت ميراثا ولا تكون للابن حتى يبرزها له ويجعلها على يدي عدل وهذا لضعف الصدقه من قبل الاب بالعين اذا لم