Q: What is the Islamic position if legally the son owns the land but the mother has retained control?
An elderly woman owns some land in Pakistan through which she receives rent on a regular basis. She is unaware of the Islamic laws of inheritance.
She wants to leave the land to her son and not to her daughters as she has already given them some other land. Her intention is to keep the land for herself until she dies and then to let her son have it after she dies.
To achieve her purpose she has already had the land written in her sons name. However, she has made it clear to her son that she will continue to benefit from the rent of the land and that the son will only have control of the land and its rent after she has died.
The question is: what is the current status of the land Islamically? Surely the gift of the land from the mother to the son has not been complete as she has not given the son full control and she is still benefitting from the land.
Who currently owns the land Islamically and what will happen once the mother dies?
الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما ومنه الصدق والصواب
A: The land is currently owned by the elderly lady. If she does not complete the gift during her life to her son then the land will form a part of the estate to which the daughters will also be entitled.