Day Questions

My children are young and I fear that they will not be able to handle my wealth after my death, due to their immaturity. The oldest of my children is 22 years old. Is it permitted that after I die all my wealth is given to my wife?

The Sharia limits your discretion on the distribution of your wealth after your death to a third of your estate. If you stated in your will that all your money is to go to your wife, she will receive a third of the estate, and she will then receive her Sharia-defined share of the inheritance from the remaining two-thirds. In respect to the rest of the inheritance, she can only receive from it as much as the other heirs agree to pass over to her.

I work in a store as a cashier, and sometimes the customer pays more than the required amount and says, ‘keep the change.’ Can I take that extra money for myself?

If you understand from the customer that the money is given to you personally, then you can keep it for yourself. But, if the customer’s intention was to give the extra cash for the store, or the employer stipulates that extra cash is the store’s, then you cannot take the cash.

Can a man shave his moustache and beard? Is this ruling based on an obligatory precaution?

It is not permissible to shave the beard, and this is as an edict, not a precautionary ruling, so one cannot refer to somebody else in this regard. It is permissible to shave the moustache.