fous who are
cHfabled,') in
proportion to
their refpec
tive claims of
■ inheritance.
Sifters muft
furnilh maintenance
to an
indigent brother,
in the
fame proportion.
thirds, and that of a mother one third. The-compiler of the Hedaya
remarks that this is the doftrine of Khafaf and Hdfan. According to
the Zâhir-Rawâyet, the whole of the maintenance to thefe refis upon
the father, the word of G od being ‘thus exprefl'ed, ‘ t h e SUBSISTS
TENCE OF CHILDREN RESTS UPON THOSE TO WHOM THEY ARE
6t bo r n , ” - (as was before mentioned,) and the perfon to whom
they are horn is the fa ther, wherefore their maintenance refis upon
him, in the fame manner as that of his infant children:-but the
former doftrine proceeds upon the idea of there being two points
which make an effential diftinaion between infant children and adults,
with refpea to the father; f i r s t , a father is inverted with the authority
of guardianfhip over his infant child ; s e c o n d l y , the maintenance
to°his infant child is exprefsly declared to reft folely and ex-
clufively upon him : but with adults it is otheiwife, as a father has no
right of guardianfhip -over them, wherefore the mother is to aftift him
in furnifhing their maintenance in cafe of necefSty ; and as, in the
maintenance of other relations, the proportion of inheritance is regarded,
fo in the prefent cafe, in conformity with that rule.
T he maintenance of a brother, in poverty, refis upon his fu ll,
paternal, and maternal fillers, in five fhares, according to their degrees
of inheritance ; that is to fay, three fifths muft be furnifhed by
the f u ll fillers, one fifth by the paternal fifters, and one fifth by the
maternal— It is to be obferved, however, that to the obligation of
furnifhing maintenance to a poor relation, the capability of inheritance
only is a condition, and not the prior or more immediate right-, thus if
a poor man have a rich maternal aunt, and alfo a rich paternal uncle s
fon, his maintenance refis upon the former in preference to the latter,
although the latter would inherit of him in preference to the former,
for this reafon, that a maternal aunt is within the prohibited degrees,
whereas a coufin-german is not.
T he maintenance o f a relation within the prohibited degrees is hot
incumbent, upon his heirs, i f they be o f a different religion, becaufe,
in this cafe, they are incapable of inheriting from him, which is the
condition of the obligation.
T he maintenance of relations within the prohibited degrees is not
incumbent upon a perfon in'poverty,, becaufe it is an obligation (like
the other duties of confanguinity) which cannot be fulfilled by one
who, on account o f his fituation, has a claim to that very affiftance
from others. But this argument does not hold with refpedl to a w f e
or infant child, for whom it is incumbent upon a man to provide fub-
fiftence, notwithftanding his poverty, becaufe in marrying he fubjefts
himfelf to the expence of maintaining his wife, as otherwife the ends
of marriage would be defeated,•— and .his child,, from participation of
blood, is a part o f himfelf,. (as was before obferved,) for whom it-is.
therefore his duty to find fupport as much as for himfelf.
✓
A boo Y oosaf defines the term rich, as ufed in this chapter, to
apply to a perfon.poflefled of property to the amount o f a fingle Ntfdb.
Mohammed fays that it means a perfon poflefled of 'property above what
may fuffice to fupport himfelf and family one month,— or whofe fu--
perfluity from his daily earnings enables him to afford it,— becaufe the
obligation, in- ails of piety, depends upon the ability generally, and
not upon any fpecific degree of it, N fdb being a proportion, invented
merely for convenience : decrees however pafs. according to the former
opinion.. By the N fd b h ere mentioned is underftood that which is fo
fmall as to prohibit, alms-giving ; for-inftance, two hundred D irms ; '
and Hawldn-Hdwl, or pofleffion for a year, is not a .condition of it;
whence,., if a-man .were, , from a ftate of poverty,. to become poflëfled
of two hundred Dirms as this day, the maintenance of his poor relations
becomes immediately incumbent upon him.
A poor man
is not required
to fupport
any of
his relations
except his
nvife or infant
children.
Definition of
the term rich,
as here ufed..
Tris
If