Question 046: A member of Ask Islam group contacted me privately about a situation that was brought to him for advice. There is a need for at least 2-3 academically credible sources, which Inshaa’Allah should include references from some of the Grand Marja’ (rulings from Sistani, Makram Shirazi and Khamenei are specifically being requested).

History: A brother, took financial responsibility for some of his extended family. He had an uncle, an aunt, three nieces, and a nephew who were financially dependent on him because his uncle (the head of the family) had a debilitating disability which left him paralyzed. This brother paid for the families expenses.

The house they lived ended up in a court dispute. The family thought the house belonged to them while some other party claimed it didn’t. After a court battle, it was found that the house did not in fact belong to the family that was living in it. The owners came to the house and told the family that they either had to immediately vacate the home or purchase the home. It would have caused great hardship for the family to move due to the uncles disability however they didn’t have any money to purchase the house either, as they were already financially dependent on the brother due to the disability.

Some family members and the uncle approached the brother and asked him to purchase the house since he had the means. The brother did not have the means but he did have some savings that he used in addition to an allocation of Sahm e Sadat that he had arranged for the family with the permission of the marja they followed. With the combination of his savings and the khums, the brother was able to purchase the home, where the family was able to live.

After some time, one of the daughters died, the uncle died, the aunt died, and the two remaining daughters were able to get married. There was only one family member left in the home, which was the teenage son.

The brother came into some financial troubles and needed to sell the house. The son is currently under the financial care of the brother as the child is an orphan.

Since, the home was originally purchase with a share of Sahm e Sadat, the brother has a few questions. He not only has concerns about the orphans well-being but he has concern about the share of Sahm e Sadat used to buy the home originally.
Questions: Should the Sahm e Sadat that was used to purchase the home be returned to the marja or should the brother give it to the orphan son that remains? The child has no inheritance as his father was financially dependent on the brother.
In addition, the home sold for a much greater price than it was purchased for. Does the brother need to add any inflation to the amount of Sahm e Sadat, when he pays it to either the marja or the orphan, in order to make things right?

Is there any other information that the brother needs to know in order to financially settle the son or the marja that he is religiously bound by fiqh? He wants to make sure that there is nothing he needs to worry about in the grave, he wants to make sure hes not being unjust.

If there is any additional information needed, please reach out for me. I know many more details and if there are details I don’t know, I can get them. Please, also see the financial breakdown below:

Brothers Personal Share – Rs 640,000

Sahm e Sadat – Rs 290,000

Buying Price of the House – Rs 930,000

Selling Price of the House – Rs 1,600,000

Profit from the Sell – Rs 670,000

Answer 046: The first order of business is to pay the amount of 498,924 to the orphan. The Sahm e Sadat that was arranged for the family to help purchase the house remains with the family. The orphan is the remaining member so, it should be paid to him. There is inflation on the original 290,000 due to the selling price of the house and the formula is as follows:

290,000 x 1,600,000 ÷ 930,000 = 498,924.

The second order of business is that khums must be paid to the brother’s marja on the remaining money of 1,101,076. The amount that he is to pay to his marja is 220,215. 1/5 or 20% is the amount that is used to figure the amount of khums and the formula is as follows:

1,600,000 – 498,924 = 1,101,076 x 20% = 220,215.

The amount must be paid to the orphan before the amount of khums is paid. The brother’s share of the selling price of the house is 880,861.

1,600,000 – 498,924 = 1,101,076 – 220,215 = 880,861.

498,924 – Orphan

220,215 – Khums

880, 861 – Profit.[1]

For further information in this regards, please refer to the following answers:

Index: Islamic Laws / Khums.

[1] . While these formulas are agreed upon among all Grand Maraja’, this particular scenario and the formulas used to reach these figures were confirmed by the Office of Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi (ha).