Question
A person that is mentally disturbed by 50-60% is a bit unusual. He married to a polio patient (whose one leg doesn't function) 30 years ago, Polio patient girl was given 8 tolas of gold ornaments by his in-laws on his wedding and girls's parents gave a gold ring to the groom. They have no babies. Man never did any work due to mental disturbance throughout his life. The wife took her husband's gold ring and about 2 tolas of her 8 tolas of gold to her parents house, which was never found out later. Now after 30 years, the husband asked his sister to take jewelry from his wife and keep half for herself and himself and invest the other half of the jewelry in a way that it keeps benefitting his wife for her old age. Sister took complete jewelry from his brother's wife and 2 months later, the husband died. Now there is one sister who was told to keep the jewelry, one brother and one widow left behind of the dead husband. There are neither babies of the dead husband nor the parents of the dead husband. Now the question is, did the husband have the right to take his wife's jewelry and keep half of it for himself and his sister, and give the remaining half to his wife? Is the wife, now a widow, the sole owner of all the jewelry? Do the husband's sister and younger brother also have a share in it?
Islamic Ruling & Answer
1. Did the husband have the right to take his wife’s jewelry and keep half of it for himself and his sister?
No. If the 8 tolas of gold were given to the wife by her parents/family as a gift at the time of marriage and ownership was transferred to her, then the jewelry is her personal property. The husband had no right to take it without his wife’s permission, keep half of it for himself or his sister, or distribute it in any way.
Therefore, the husband’s instruction to keep half for himself and his sister does not, according to Shariah, establish ownership of the jewelry for either of them.
2. Is the widow now the sole owner of all the jewelry?
If all the jewelry in question is the jewelry that was given to the wife by her own parents as a gift, then yes, she is its complete owner. Even after her husband’s death, that jewelry does not become part of the husband’s estate because it already belonged to the wife.
Therefore, the husband’s brother, sister, or any other heirs have no share whatsoever in that jewelry.
However, the gold ring that was given to the husband is a separate matter. If the ring was given to the husband as a gift by his in-laws, then it belonged to the husband. If it was still his property at the time of his death, it would be included in his estate and distributed among his heirs according to Islamic inheritance law.
3. Do the husband’s sister and brother have any share in the jewelry?
They have no share in the wife’s own jewelry whatsoever. The fact that the sister took the jewelry from the wife at the husband’s instruction does not, by itself, make the jewelry the property of the husband or his sister. If the jewelry belonged to the wife, it must be returned to her.
However, if any particular jewelry genuinely belonged to the deceased husband, then it would become part of his estate after his death and would be distributed among his heirs according to the rules of Islamic inheritance.
And Allah knows best.
Answered by
Mufti Tosif Qasmi
August 18, 2026
Researched & verified under our editorial & answer-review policy.
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