Ruling on spending on parents - Shk Bin Baz

Ruling on Spending on Parents

Question: This is a message from the sender Muhammad Imam Hassan, an Egyptian working in the Al-Jawf region. The summary of his message is that he says he lives in his country with a family consisting of his parents, siblings, and his own children. He works here while his siblings and father work there. He has two sons studying in secondary school, and his father covers the household expenses, farming costs, and children's expenses. His father is an elderly man who did not receive education and has not saved anything for his children. So, is it permissible for me, while I am here sending money to my father, to secretly keep some of my earnings as a precaution for my own children who are my offspring? Please advise me, may God bless you.

Answer: It is your duty to spend on your father, your children, and your father's wife according to your ability until you meet their needs. Whatever exceeds their needs, you may keep for yourself. However, you must spend on your father, your children, your father's wife, and his children as well if he has minor or dependent children. You must spend on all of them, and this is part of maintaining family ties and honoring one's father, which is an obligation. However, if your father is wealthy and able to spend on his children and himself, then you should spend on your two sons who are with him according to their needs, and come to an agreement with your father regarding what pleases him without causing yourself hardship in this matter.

Original Fatwa here