عبد الله

"If you see that they love the family of Muhammad (sw), peace be upon them, then elevate them in status."

“About the case of a man who has the assets of an orphan with him, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If he is poor and has no assets of his own, he must not touch the assets of the orphan; and if he uses it in business, he is responsible for it and the profit belongs to the orphan.’”

“About the words of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, ‘He must eat to the proper limit’, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Al-Ma‘ruf (proper limit) is what one needs for sustenance. It applies to the executor of the will or one who is appointed as the custodian of their assets and to work for their welfare.’”

my father asked him about the orphan while I was present – when does his affair become permissible [when does the authority to oversee his affair devolve to him]? he said: when he attains his maturity, he said: what is his maturity? he said: beginning to have nocturnal emissions, he said: a boy may be eighteen years or a little below that or a little more than that and yet does not have nocturnal emissions (what then)? he said: if he becomes pubescent and something begins to be written for him (of good-deeds and sins by the angels) – then his affair [taking charge of financial decisions] is valid unless he is a fool or mentally incapacitated.

“Allah builds a house in Paradise for people who do four things – shelter orphans, have mercy on the weak, do good to parents and behave well with slaves.”

"When a boy reaches the age of thirteen and enters into his fourteenth year, what is obligatory upon those who have reached puberty becomes obligatory upon him, whether he experiences a wet dream or not. His bad deeds are recorded against him, and his good deeds are recorded for him. Everything becomes permissible for him except if he is weak-minded or foolish."

Hadith.5522 - Abu Abdullah (as), said: "When a girl reaches nine years of age, her wealth is handed over to her, her decisions regarding her wealth become valid, and the full legal punishments are applied for her and upon her."

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘You must maintain piety before Allah about two weak ones’- he thereby meant the orphans and women and that ‘they (women) must be treated with great privacy.’”

I asked Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, about booty theft, so he said: Everything that has been taken from the Imam is illegal possession; consuming the property of an orphan is illegal possession. Illegal possession is of many types, among which is what is acquired through the actions of oppressive governors; and among which are the rewards of judges; the rewards of fornicators; the price of grape wine, non-grape wine and intoxicants; usury after clear proof (has been established). As for bribe, O Ammar, with regards to rulings, that is, indeed, disbelief in Allah, the Almighty, and His Messenger.

“Nothing is better than the following five on the day of Eid ul-Azha: offering (an animal); visiting one’s parents; re-establishing ties of kinship with those relatives with whom such ties are broken and being kind to them, greeting them and assisting them with one’s extra income; eating some of one’s own offering and feeding the rest to the orphans, the needy, the slaves and the helpless neighbors; visiting imprisoned persons and being kind to them.”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), if there is Zakat on orphan’s assets. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, Zakat is not due unless it is used in business or is made to work.’”

I said to Abu Abdillah (as), "I owe a debt to orphans, and I fear that if I sell my estate, I will be left with nothing." Imam (as) said: "Do not sell your estate; rather, give some and keep some."

"The end of an orphan's state of orphanhood is marked by reaching puberty, and that is when he reaches his full strength. However, if he reaches puberty but no sign of maturity is observed in him, and he is foolish or weak-minded, then his guardian should withhold his wealth from him."

O you who believe! when you meet those who disbelieve marching for war, then turn not your backs to them. nor accuse a chaste woman of adultery nor should you kill a believer purposely.”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of an orphan who has read the Quran, his understanding is proper and his assets are in the hands of a man who wants to work using those assets in business in the manner of profit sharing ( al-Mudarabah ) to which the boy has agreed. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not proper to use it in business until he experiences wet-dream, then hands over his assets to him. If he experiences wet-dream and does not have proper understanding, nothing must be given to him forever.’” Humayd has narrated from al-Hassan ibn Ja‘far ibn Sama‘ah from Dawud ibn Sarhan from abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), a similar Hadith.

“Once it was said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘We visit a brother in belief in the house of orphans with their servant. We sit on their furnishings, drink from their water and their servant serves us and perhaps eat of the food of our friend in which there is the orphans’ food also. What do you say about it? He (the Imam) said, ‘If your visit is beneficial for them, it is not harmful and if it is harmful it is not permissible.’ He (the Imam) (a.s.), said, ‘Man is well aware of his own-self. It is not hidden from you that Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, has said, “If you mix with them they are your brothers in belief and Allah knows who is corrupt and who is improving and a peacemaker.’””

1. Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) said that it is written in the book of Imam Amirul Momineen (a.s.) that one who usurps the wealth of an orphan forcefully, this wealth will be a cause of calamity for him soon on the Day of Judgment. And regarding the punishment of this world, Allah says, “And let those fear who, should they leave behind them weakly offspring, would fear on their account, so let them be careful of (their duty to) Allah, and let them speak right words. Allah says regarding the punishment of the hereafter: (As for) those who swallow the property of the orphans unjustly, surely they only swallow fire into their bellies and they shall enter burning fire.”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), has said, ‘You must discipline an orphan as you discipline your own child and deal with him as you would deal with your own child (in matters of discipline).’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that an orphan was brought before ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), who said, ‘Make his closest relative pay for his expenses; such people are the ones who claim his legacy.’”

“About the case of the assets of orphans, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘One who uses the assets of the orphan in business is responsible and the profit belongs to the orphan, if the worker does not have anything of his own assets in it.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘This person is responsible to pay for any damage caused.’”