The father’s maintenance is upon the son

Question

Question: Ever since Zayd, purely out of necessity, separated from his father, he has always been giving his father five rupees a month. It so happened once that when Zayd went to give the said money to his father, he refused to take it and replied: “From now on I will take ten rupees; I will not take five.” Yet the said father is by no means a poor, destitute man, but a man of means.

Answer

If there is a great difference between the two sons in terms of wealth and poverty, then there will also be a difference in the maintenance (nafaqa) of the father; that is, it will be wajib according to one’s means.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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