Parents must be supported, but taking a child’s money without permission is not a free right — Islamic guidance points to legal or communal remedies rather than unilateral seizure.
If you have seen or heard of parents taking money from their child to cover living expenses, this can happen — but only in particular circumstances. This article examines when such action is allowed and when it is not.
By consensus of jurists, the obligation to provide for offspring rests on parents, and the obligation to maintain parents rests on children. The proofs for the duty of maintenance are cited by scholars from scripture, hadith, consensus, and rational considerations.
However, what is the ruling on taking money from a child without their permission?
If parents are poor, may they use a child’s property without the child’s permission?
If the parents are poor and the child, despite being able, does not provide maintenance, one should turn to the legal authority (the judge of sharīʿa) to compel the child to pay maintenance. If a sharīʿa judge is not available, the next step is to seek intervention by just believers, and if they are not available, by other believers, even if imperfect, to compel the child to pay. In such circumstances, however, taking food from the child’s home to eat is not considered problematic.
In the scenario presented, the parents are among those entitled to maintenance by the child; it is incumbent on the child to care for them. Nevertheless, parents are not permitted to dispose of their child’s property without the child’s consent.
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Providing maintenance for children is generally the parents’ duty; providing maintenance for parents is the child’s duty (nawāfiq obligations exist both ways). |
If a child with means refuses to provide for poor parents, one should seek legal or community intervention to compel payment. |
Parents are not permitted to appropriate a child’s property without the child’s permission. |
Eating food at the child’s house may be acceptable while pursuing formal remedies for maintenance. |
For concrete cases, follow the steps the marja‘ or local sharīʿa authority prescribes (legal enforcement or community arbitration). |
