Madrassah usurping wealth
Question: Salaam, I need advice and help from the Jamiat. My sister gave me her house to reside in during her life time therefore I moved into her house it’s an old houses. Now my sister passed away on 28 October 2012 and now after her death the Uloom principal maulana say that the house belongs to them because of an english will that property is for charity to the uloom 9 years ago.
My sister house was her only wealth which she told me to take over her payment of Rates, light and water before her death which i’m doing up till today because I never see the will. The principal maulana is an executor of the will he does not want to speak to me to do Islamic justice he wants me to speak to his Hafiz lawyer and the lawyer also want me to get another lawyer. The principal said his maulana’s are poor so they need the houses. To my knowledge the uloom got enough houses and lands. I’m the one who was rent every were until my sister gave me her house on her own wish. My sister was a widow and her child passed away for the past 20 years now. The maulana told me they did not know I was her sister and they knew she gave the house 8 years ago to the uloom so how can i take it back. Not one day the uloom maulana took care of her or assisted her with payment’s or food. My sister should sleep with a nail on her door. I’m also a widow and 75 years old. The maulana should now that charity on a will suppose to be 1/3 only but he refuse to do Islamic justice. Now I can’t afford lawyer fees and my nephew’s are scared to get bad with maulana’s because now they saying what face are the going to show the uloom and because why my sister never give them the house but she gave them her furniture when she empty the house for me. I’ve been to the executor house which is down the road from me he failed to come and to set an proper appointment to meet with me. Jazakallah
Answer:
We have understood the following from your letter:
During your sister’s lifetime she made a gift of the house to you.
She emptied the house, giving away the furniture, etc.
You had possession of the house for many years since the time your sister gifted it to you.
You had paid the rates, etc. over the years and generally maintained the premises.
According to the will, the house was or is gifted to the Uloom.
On the basis of the abovementioned facts, the Shariah’s ruling is as follows:
The wasiyyat (bequest) made in the English will is not valid. When your sister made the gift to you, then it amounts to a cancellation of the wasiyyat assuming that the will is dated before the gift.
If the will is dated after the gift was made to you, then it is null and void because a wasiyyat cannot be made of someone else’s property. In this case it was your property which you had acquired by way of the gift.
The Uloom never was the owner since your sister had not given possession of the house to the Madrasah. As such, the principal has no Islamic right to claim the house from you. However, if the house is still on your sister’s name and the English will stipulates that it is a ‘gift’ for the Uloom, then in terms of the kufr law of the country you will lose the house and on the Day of Qiyaamah, the house and the entire area under the house down into the bowels of the earth will be made into a weight of punishment and fitted around the neck of the principal for his haraam act of extortion.
Was-Salaam
