Is sending money to parents and a full brother in Iraq considered a religious obligation or an act of charity? Is a daughter obligated to her parents like a son? And is she accountable for not having helped a needy half-brother in the past?

It is obligatory to spend on poor parents if one is well-off, and this applies equally to both males and females. This is because jurists have stated that parents have a "claim to their child's wealth by text, and this applies equally to males and females." As for spending on a brother, jurists have differed on this matter. Some have made it obligatory for the well-off in the event of the brother's hardship (such as the Hanafis and Hanbalis), while others have not made it obligatory except for ascendants and descendants (such as the Malikis and Shafi'is). The more cautious approach is to spend on a brother to avoid disagreement.