to confirm it rather than revoking it, and because it is a gift that becomes binding upon the father's death, so it is permissible, just as if he had treated them equally. Our argument is what al-Nu'man ibn Bashir narrated, saying: My father gave me some of his wealth as a gift, so my mother, Amrah bint Rawahah, said: I will not be satisfied until you have the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - witness it. My father came to the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - to have him witness his gift, and he said: "Have you given every one of your children the same?" He said: No. He said: "Fear Allah, and act justly among your children." He said: So my father returned and revoked that gift. In one wording he said: "So return it." In another wording he said: "So take it back." [In one wording: "Do not have me witness an injustice." In one wording: "Call someone other than me to witness this."] And in one wording: "Treat them equally." It is a sound (sahih) hadith, agreed upon. It is evidence for the prohibition; because he termed it an injustice, ordered its revocation, and refused to witness it, and injustice is forbidden, and an imperative implies obligation. Furthermore, favoring some of them engenders enmity, hatred, and severance of kinship ties among them, so it is prohibited, like marrying a woman while her paternal or maternal aunt is already a wife. The statement of Abu Bakr does not contradict the statement of the Prophet - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - nor can it be used as an argument alongside it. It is possible that Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, singled her out with his gift due to her need and her inability to work or earn, along with her distinction in merit, being the Mother of the Believers and the wife of the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and other such virtues. It is also possible that he gifted her, and also gifted others of his children, or he gifted her while intending to gift others, but death overtook him before that. It is necessary to interpret his tradition based on one of these
(4) Omitted from [M]. (5) Omitted from the original. (6) Collected by al-Bukhari, in: Chapter on bearing witness in a gift, from the Book of Gifts. Sahih al-Bukhari 3/206; and by Muslim, in: Chapter on the dislike of favoring some children in a gift, from the Book of Gifts. Sahih Muslim 3/1242-1244. It was also collected by Abu Dawud, in: Chapter on a man favoring some of his children in a gift (nahl), from the Book of Sales. Sunan Abi Dawud 2/262; and by Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 4/268. (7) Omitted from [M]. In the original, it is: "fi tafdil" (in favoring). (8) In the original: "bi-atiyyah" (with a gift).
