A father taking back a gift to his child

A question on a father taking back a gift he made to his child, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that a father may not take back a gift to a close blood relative unless it creates unjustified favouritism, the position the law adopts, while noting that the Shafi'is allow it under conditions. ¹

The questioner asked about the ruling on a father taking back a gift he made to his child. ¹

The Department answered that a gift becomes binding on delivery and may not be taken back afterwards, citing the hadith comparing someone who takes back a gift to a dog returning to its vomit. ¹ It said the Shafi'is make an exception for a father's gift to his child, quoting al-Nawawi's commentary on Sahih Muslim and his Minhaj al-Talibin that the condition is that the gift remains under the child's control. ¹ The Hanafis bar taking back a gift to a close blood relative, including a father's gift to his child; it quoted al-Sarakhsi's al-Mabsut, article 866 of the Majalla and its commentary Durar al-Hukkam, and noted that Jordan's Civil Code adopts this in article 579. ¹ It concluded that a father may not take back a gift to a close blood relative unless it creates unjustified favouritism among them, the view the law adopts, while the Shafi'is allow a return between ascendants and descendants under conditions. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3867, dated 21 April 2024. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.