A present suspected of being unlawful

Question

Question: Hinda was married to Bakr. On the occasion of the wedding, the husband of Hinda’s maternal aunt (who deals in the liquor trade) gave Hinda a suit of clothes and Bakr a watch. Some time later Bakr learned that the husband of Hinda’s maternal aunt deals in liquor, and that some time earlier he used to do other, permissible work. The supposition is precisely that he bought the clothes and the watch with unlawful earnings and gave them.

Answer

Since it is not certain that Hinda’s maternal aunt’s husband acquired these things with unlawful property, giving them as sadaqa is not wajib. However, if Bakr wishes to give it as sadaqa out of piety (taqwa), it is better that he give the watch itself as sadaqa.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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