Giving housing to a widowed and needy daughter

Question

Question: Zayd has four children: from his first wife one daughter, and from the second, later wife two daughters and one son; all of them are married. The daughter from the first wife is a widow. The second, later wife passed away in 1940, and ever since then the daughter from the first wife has been serving her father. She has no house to live in, and for this reason Zayd wishes to give this daughter, out of his own house, a dwelling to live in.

Answer

Giving the widowed daughter born of the first, deceased wife a dwelling to live in, out of his own house and during his lifetime, on account of her need and want and also on account of her service, is permissible in the Shari‘a. The aim must not be to deprive the children born of the second wife or to harm them; otherwise it will be injustice (zulm) and a sin.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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