Gifting a house that one does not own

Question

Question: The questioner’s father was one of two brothers; both have died. One of them has a son as his offspring, and the other’s offspring is also a son. The questioner is Mansur Ahmad, and he kept sending money from Bombay to his brother Fahimuddin to have a house built. So Fahimuddin, who was Mansur Ahmad’s cousin (the son of his father’s elder brother), had the house built. The property of the house was held in partnership, and one shop in it Mansur Ahmad had bought with his own money.

Answer

Fahimuddin’s widow is entitled by inheritance to one eighth of her husband’s estate; she has no right to more than that. The shop that Mansur Ahmad himself bought with his own personal money belongs to Mansur Ahmad. The house that was built with the money sent by Mansur Ahmad belongs to Mansur Ahmad.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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