The Book of Gifts

كتاب الهبات

Chapter 3: It Is Disliked To Favor Some Of One's Children Over Others In Gift-Giving

Nu'man b. Bashir reported that his mother bint Rawaha asked his (Nu'man's) father about donating some gifts from his property to his son. He deferred the matter by one year, and then set forth to do that. She (Nu'man's mother) said

I shall not be pleased unless you call Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as witness to what you confer as a gift on your son. (Nu'man said): So father took hold of my hand and I was at that time a boy, and came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). and said: Allah's Messenger, the mother of this son (of mine), daughter of Rawaha wishes that I should call you witness to what I confer as gift to her son. Allah's Messenger (may pease be upon him) said: Bashir, have you any other son besides this (son of yours)? He said: Yes. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Have you given gifts to all of them like this? He said: No. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Then call me not as witness, for I cannot be witness to an injustice.

Nu'man b. Bashir, reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had said

Have you, besides him, other sons? He said: Yes. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Have you given gifts to all of them like this (as you have given to Nu'man)? He said: No. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: I cannot bear witness to an injustice.

Nu'man b. Bashir (Allah be pleased with them) reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to his father

Call me not as witness to an injustice.

Nu'man b. Bashir (Allah be pleased with them) reported

My father took me to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said: Allah's Messenger, bear witness that I have given such and such gift to Nu'man from my property, whereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Have you conferred upon all of your sons as you have conferred upon Nu'man? He said: No. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Call someone else besides me as a witness. And he further said: Would it, please you that they (your children) should all behave virtuously towards you? He said: Yes. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Then don't do that (i e. don't give gift to one to the exclusion of others).

Nu'man b. Bashir reported

My father conferred a gift upon me, and then brought me to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) to make him a witness (to it). He (the Holy Prophet) said: Have you given such gift to every son of yours (as you have given to Nu'man)? He said: No. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Don't you expect goodness from them as you expect from him? He said: Yes. of course. He (the Holy Prophet) said: I am not going to bear witness to it (as it is injustice). Ibn Aun (one of the narrators) said: I narrated this hadith to Muhammad (the other narrator) who said: Verily we narrated that lie (the Holy Prophet) had said: Observe equity amongst your children.

Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the wife of Bashir said (to her husband)

Give to my son your slave as a gift, and make for me Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) a witness He came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said: The daughter of so and so (his wife Amra bint Rawaha) asked me to give my slave as a gift to her son, and call for me Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as a witness. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Has he (Nu'man) brothers? He (Bashir) said: Yes. He (further) said: Have you given to all others as you have given to him? He said: No. He said: Then it is not fair; and verily I cannot bear witness but only to what is just.

Chapter 4: The 'Umra (Lifelong Gift)

Jabir b. 'Abdullah (Allah be pleased with them) reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

"Any man who is given agift for life, it belongs to him andhis heirs. It belongs to the one towhom it is given, and does not goback to the one who gave it,because he has given it in such away that it is subject to the rulesof inheritance."

Jaber b. 'Abdullah (Allah be pleased with them) reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upan him) as saying

He who conferred a life grant upon a person, it becomes his possession and that of his successors, for he surrendered his right in that by his declaration. (This property) now belongs to one to whom this lifelong grant has been made, and to his successors. Yahya narrated in the beginning of his narration: Whatever man is given a life grant, then it belongs to him and his posterity.

Jabir b. 'Abdullah al-Ansari (Allah be pleased with him) said

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Whoever a person conferred Umra (life grant) upon a person and he says: I confer upon you this and upon your descendants and anyone who survives you, and that becomes his possession and that of his posterity. It would become (a permanent possession) of those who were conferred upon this gift, and it would not return to its owner (donor), for he gave that as a gift in which accrued the right of inheritance.

Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) said

The Umra for which Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) gave sanction that a person way say: This (property) is for you and for your descendants. And when he said: That is for you as long as you live, then it will return to its owner (after the death of the donee). Ma'mar said: Zuhri used to give religious verdict according to this.

Jabir b. 'Abdullah (Allah be pleased with him) reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) commanded that whoever is conferred upon a life grant along with his descendants is entitled to make use of the property conferred so long as he lives and his successors (also enjoy this privilege). That (property) becomes the their defect belonging. The donor cannot (after declaring Umra) lay down any condition or make any exception. Abu Salama said

For he conferred a grant and as such it becomes heritage. and the right of inheritance abrogated his condition.

Jabir (b. 'Abdullah) (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

Life grant is for one upon whom it is bestowed.

Jabir b. 'Abdullah reported a hadith like this through another chain of transmitters.

Jabir reported this hadith directly from Allah's Apostle (ﷺ)

Jabir (b. 'Abdullah) (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) having said

Keep your property to yourselves and do not squander it, for he who conferred a life grant upon another that property will belong to him upon whom it is conferred whether he lives or dies, and (would pass on) to his successors (as heritage).

This hadith is narrated on the authority of Jabir through other chains of transmitters, but (with this addition of words) that thehadith transmitted on the authority of Ayyub (these words are found)

" The Helpers (Ansar) conferred the benefit of 'Umra, upon the Emigrants (Muhajirin), whereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Keep your property to yourselves.

Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) reported that a woman gave her garden as a life grant to her son. He died and later on she also died and left a son behind and brothers also, The sons of the woman making life grant said (to those who had been conferred upon this 'Umra)

This garden has returned to us. The sons of the one who had been given life grant said: This belonged to our father, during his lifetime and in case of his death. They took their dispute to Tariq, the freed slave of 'Uthman. He called Jabir and he gave testimony of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) having said: Life grant belongs to one who is conferred upon this (privilege). Tariq gave this decision and then wrote to Abd al-Malik and informed him, Jabir bearing witness to it. Abd al-Malik said: Jabir has told the truth. Then Tariq gave a decree and, as a result thereof, it is to this day that the garden belongs to descendants of one who was conferred upon the life grant.

Sulaiman b. Yasir reported that Jabir gave this verdict. The inheritor has a right (to inherit) the life grant according to the statement of Jabir (b. 'Abdullah) (Allah be pleased with him) which he narrated from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ).

Jabir b. 'Abdullah reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as saying

Life grant is permissible.

Jabir b. Abdullah (Allah be pleased with them) reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as saying

Life grant is the heritage of one upon whom it is conferred.