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The gift becomes the beneficiary’s own property once it is possessed

Question

A.A.My widowed aunt has got deposited some money in my daughter's name in Bankislami.After that she asked her that if she wills she can give the profit to her till her(aunt's) life to meet the expenses. Shall my daughter be the sole owner of the money after the death of my aunt.J.A.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

If a person is in sound health, his charity and gifts are valid if they fulfil the conditions.

Therefore, if your aunt had deposited an amount of money in an Islamic bank when she was in sound health in the name of your daughter, then this is a valid gift. Hence, if your daughter [who is the beneficiary of the gift] is in sound mind, then she possesses the gift; otherwise it is her guardian who possesses it on her behalf if she has not yet matured enough to dispose of her wealth rationally.

If the donor of the gift died after the gift had been possessed by its beneficiary, then the gift becomes completely the property of the beneficiary.

As regards the donor [who is your aunt] asking your daughter (the beneficiary of the gift) to give her the profits of this deposit if she so wishes, then this is permissible and this does not affect the validity of the gift because this request is not a condition before gifting, and it depends on the will of the beneficiary of the gift. However, we advise her to be kind to the donor in the same way the latter was kind to her.

Allaah Knows best.

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