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Fatwa CenterParent asking to take back what he gifted to his child
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. My father gifted me some property five years ago and transferred it to my name. Last year, when I was getting married, he asked me to return the property. I did not want to return it, so after I got married, I sold it without asking my father. When I told him about that, he got angry and asked for the money which I got from selling it. He said that this money is illegal to me and that he was the real owner and so it should be given to him. I want to know what Islam and the Shariah say about this. Should I return the money to my father, or had I become the legal owner once it had been gifted to me?
Answer
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, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Scholars mentioned that the parent is allowed to take back his gift to his child unless it involves other people's rights, it is no longer in the possession of the child, or the child has disposed of it by selling it or has become involved in some commitments because of it, as we have previously explained in fatwa 119967.
Hence, if your father had given you the property and gave you full control over it, the gift is valid and binding.
Your statement, "He asked me to return the property. I did not want to return it..." implies that he was not decisive about it; rather, he presented the matter to you and you did not accept it and disposed of the property by selling it. He did not take any action that actually returned the property to his possession. Accordingly, the property remained under you ownership, and your disposal of it by selling it is valid and effective. There is no harm on you in benefiting of its price; however, you should try to appease your father and give him some of that money in order to remove any hard feelings and to be kind and dutiful to him. If you do not need all the money and decided to give it to him, then that would be better since he is concerned about it.
Allah knows best.
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