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I like to give charity to organisations such as Muslim aid, but my parents are against this, as they would prefer the money to be given to relatives ( although my dad is already giving them money).Also as my parents would prefer me to keep the money within the family can i give charity without telling them, as one of the hadiths says that "i and all my wealth belong to my father"? Another related question is that can my father pay zakat and the qurbani on my behalf as he is the head of the family? Jazakhallah Khairan

Praise be to Allah.We put the following question to Shaykh Muhammad ibn

Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen:

“I like to give my charity to charitable organizations but my

father opposes this. He prefers to give it to relatives, and wants to make me do likewise.

Does the hadeeth ‘You and your wealth belong to your father’ also mean that a

father can control his son’s charitable giving?”

He answered, may Allaah preserve him:

“The hadeeth does not mean this, except if the father wants to

take possession of the wealth himself, in which case there is nothing wrong (with him

giving it as he sees fit), provided that this is not a trick to stop his son giving

charity. But we nevertheless advise the son to give the charity to relatives, because this

is preferable.”

The father does not have the right to oblige his son to give his

charity to certain people and to prevent him from giving to others, but it is preferable

for the son to respond to his father’s wishes, so long as he is advising him to do

something good, which is upholding the ties of kinship by financial means. If the amount

of money is large and there are people who need it more than the relatives, then he could

give some of it to his relatives and some to others who are in need, or to Islamic

charitable projects. With regard to the hadeeth, “You and your wealth belong to your

father,” this was reported by Ibn Maajah (may Allaah have mercy on him) in his Sunan

from Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah, who narrated that a man said: “O Messenger of

Allaah, I have wealth and children, but my father wants to take all of my wealth for his

own needs.” He said, “You and your wealth belong to your father.” (Sunan

Ibn Maajah, no. 2282. It says in al-Zawaa’id: its isnaad is saheeh and its

men are thiqaat according to the conditions of al-Bukhaari).

See also the comments on the hadeeth etc. in Question #4282.

And Allaah knows best.

Source: IslamQA (Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid)
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