Ruling on Family Heirloom Jewelry After Divorce
Question
Assalam o Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah e Wa Barakatuhu I hope that you are well. I am writing to obtain a fatwa on a divorce matter. Please let me know if there is a fee or any charges to obtain one. My issue is that my parents, on my wedding day, gave family heirloom jewelry to my wife, and later on the jewelry was stored in my motherโs closet. My mother continued to consider the jewelry as a family heirloom and never stopped paying zakat on it. She never explicitly mentioned to me that โson I am giving this to you for your wife.โ So I never paid the zakat on it. I did not pay for the jewelry. Now after the divorce am, I expected to give that jewelry to my ex-wife? The gifts that I personally purchased for her with my salary and my funds, I have not asked for them. But these are family heirlooms which I never paid for and neither did I consider them to be mine. They have always been owned by my grandmother and my mother, and I actually wasnโt even aware that she had given it to my wife on wedding day. What should I do? JazakAllah Khairan Wassalam!
Islamic Ruling & Answer
VerifiedWalekumussalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu,
If the jewelry truly belonged to your mother/family and was only given temporarily (as a custom or for wearing) without transferring ownership, then it is not obligatory to give it to your ex-wife. Rather, it remains the property of the original owner (your mother/family).
However, if it was clearly given to the bride as a gift (hadiyah) and ownership was transferred to her, then even after divorce, the jewelry will remain her property, and it is not permissible to take it back.
Therefore, the ruling depends on whether the jewelry was genuinely given as a gift on the wedding day or not.
Lastly, it is advisable to consult a local Darul Ifta and obtain a formal fatwa on this matter.
Note: We are not a Darul Ifta and do not issue formal fatwas; we only provide general Islamic guidance.
Answered by
Mufti Tosif Qasmi
March 17, 2026
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