Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship — Page 380
The Teaching of Justice and Kindness Regarding Relatives 371 answered him in the same style but not in the same stern and crude tone. Judging him to be hard of heart, the Holy Prophet sa told him straight away to return and reminded him that, 'you and all your prosperity belonged to your father and what your children earn that will belong to you, eat it with pleasure. ' 61 No son can genuinely allege that his father is misappropriating his wealth. The father has a right to use the income of his son as though it were his own. On the other hand, the son is not permitted to consume the earnings of his father as he likes. Apparently this is against justice, but if you ponder over it in depth you will come to the conclusion that it is as it should have been. The way a father loves his son, the son cannot love him in the same way and to the same extent. This is so because the son is the future of the father, but the father is the past of the son. Very soon his own future appears before him in the form of his own family whose interest he prefers to that of his father. An honest observer will conclude the same by critically examining any society anywhere in the world. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but exceptions always prove the rule. Again, the father is one but the sons can be many. If each son enjoys the freedom to treat the father’s wealth as he likes, the entire family would fall apart. See now how the Islamic teaching is in accord with human nature and the Holy Prophet sa explained it as such. Parents have a right on their children’s earnings,