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Fatwa CenterA mother mixes her money with that of her two orphan daughters
Question
After the demise of my husband, may Allaah have mercy upon him, I became in charge of raising two orphan daughters. I am an employee and spend on them from my own salary. Someone volunteered to support them by sending a sum of money on a monthly basis. Is it permissible for me to add their money to mine and spend on the needs of the home and the daughters from both sources combined?
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.
The money donated by the person you mentioned is the wealth of the two orphan girls. The mother is considered a trustee of that money in case there is no guardian for the two girls to undertake this task. If the two girls are of a mature age and have attained puberty, the mother should hand over the money to them. If they are not of a mature age, she has to spend on them from that money and there is nothing wrong in adding it to her own money and then spending from the combined money on her daughters and herself if doing this is easier for her and more beneficial to the two orphans.
Scholars held different opinions as to whether it is permissible for a mother to take from the money of orphans for herself or not. Some of them join the mother to the father in the permissibility of taking from the money of the child out of need and this is the preponderant opinion. Meanwhile, others did not join the mother to the father in such permissibility. Hence, it is not permissible for her to take from the money of orphans for herself except with permission that is approved by the Sharee‘ah.
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