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Is it permissible for a brother to take the expenses he spent on his sick sister from her inheritance before its distribution?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A brother spending on his sick sister is a good deed for which he will be rewarded. However, it is not permissible for him to reclaim the money he spent on her, because he spent it with the intention of doing good; it was a gift, and he did not intend to take it back. Rather, the intention to reclaim it arose after his sister's husband spoke. It is not permissible to revoke a binding gift, according to the hadith: "The one who takes back his gift is like a dog that vomits and then returns to its vomit."

We would like to point out that matters of inheritance are serious and complex, and it is not sufficient to rely merely on a fatwa. Rather, they must be brought before the Sharia courts for investigation, as there may be an heir, bequests, debts, or other rights that take precedence over the rights of the heirs.

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

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