What is Gift in Islam

The concept of Gift, or Hiba in Muslim law has existed from the very inception of the religion, circa. 600 A.D. While Muslim Law has not been shown to recognise the differentiation of land into estates, it does recognise the difference between the ownership of the land and the right to enjoy it.

The term Hiba has been defined in several aspects by the courts of India and, pursuant to this, the term has also been seen to exclude all nature of services, for services do not exist at the time of the promise- they can only be performed after the promise to perform is made, which implies that the same cannot fall under the definition of Hiba which requires the object to be in physical existence at the time of the gifting. It has been widely construed that the term mal has to apply to the object so gifted for the laws of Hiba to apply.

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