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What is the sound Islamic legal action for a mother who bought two pieces of gold for two of her daughters, but was unable to buy similar ones for her other two daughters, or compensate her son with cash?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Islamic law commands justice among children and prohibits preferring some over others in gifts, unless one of them has a specific need for it.

Justice is obligatory among children, and it is achieved by giving the male the same as the female.

If the gold given to the two daughters is equivalent to their need for jewelry, then equality is only obligatory between the daughters in this regard, and there is no obligation to equalize with the males due to their lack of need.

However, if the gold exceeds the customary need for jewelry, then equality is obligatory among all children, male and female.

Equalization can be achieved by purchasing a similar amount for the others, or by returning the gold and dividing it equally among everyone.

The ruling does not change if younger children are born after the gift; equalization must be made between them and their siblings.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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