Children: are they allotted stipends, and when?

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him) said that when a child began to cry, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would fix a stipend for him.

Antarah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I was present with Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was holding back the people's stipends. If it was said to him: "So-and-so is giving birth tonight," he would say: "How many of you are there? Wait and see." Then if she gave birth to a boy or a girl, he would pay out the child's share along with the people.

Muhammad bin Zayd (may Allah have mercy on him) reports from his father Zayd (may Allah have mercy on him) that when he was born, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) enrolled him at one hundred dirhams in the stipend.

Abu al-Jahhaf Dawud bin Abi Awf (may Allah have mercy on him) said that a man from the tribe of Khath'am related: A child was born in my house during the night. When morning came, I went to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and he added one hundred dirhams for him.

Bishr bin Ghalib (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyiduna Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) asked Sayyiduna al-Husayn bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) about the newborn child. He replied: "When the child begins to cry or scream, his stipend and his provision become due."

Fitr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I was sitting with Zayd bin Ali. I asked: "How has this man, Umar bin Abd al-Aziz, treated you?" Just then a little son of his passed by, and he said: "May Allah reward him with good. He has enrolled this one at two thousand in the stipend."

Isma'il bin Shu'ayb al-Samman (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Umm al-Ala related: My father took me to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and he allotted a share of the stipend for me, although I was a little girl.

He said: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The child who eats food and bites on a crust of bread is no more entitled to this stipend than the newborn who sucks at the breast."