Inheritance.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Assalam-o-alikum
my brother in islam. may Allah reward you for your services to muslim ummah.
Surely we do need constant guiadance and may Allah help us all to be
successful.
Dear
brother i need your help regarding inheritance. My beloved father passed away
from a sudden heart attack long time ago. Then my mother passed away few years
ago. May Allah bless them and make us sadqai jariah for them. Before my mothers
death she sold one of the properties left behind by our father and gave me
money to do business . That money i have invested .After her death she has left
us with a house build on 2 and half canals and 12 canals of land and some
jewlry and $2500 in cash. Please advice me that what should i do and how
exactly i should distribute the rights of my siblings. I have one younger
brother and two sisters who are married. Your help is greatly appreciated and
please remember us in your prayers Was salam and thank you.
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Answer:
Inheritance
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah
Nisaa verses 11-14:
11 Allah (thus) directs you as regards your children's (inheritance): to
the male a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters two
or more their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one her share is
a half. For parents a sixth share of the
inheritance to each if the deceased left children; if no children and the
parents are the (only) heirs the mother has a third; if the deceased left
brothers (or sisters) the mother has a sixth.
(The distribution in all cases is) after the payment of legacies and
debts. Ye know not whether your parents or your children are nearest to you in
benefit. These are settled portions
ordained by Allah and Allah is All-Knowing All-Wise.
12 In what your wives leave your share is a half if they leave no
child; but if they leave a child ye get a fourth; after payment of legacies and
debts. In what ye leave their share is a
fourth if ye leave no child; but if ye leave a child they get an eighth; after payment of legacies and
debts. If the man or woman whose
inheritance is in question has left neither ascendants nor descendants but has
left a brother or a sister each one of the two gets a sixth; but if more than
two they share in a third; after payment of legacies and debts; so that no loss
is caused (to anyone). Thus is it
ordained by Allah and Allah is All-Knowing Most Forbearing.
13 Those are limits set by Allah: those who
obey Allah and His Messenger will be admitted to Gardens with rivers flowing
beneath to abide therein (for ever) and that will be the Supreme achievement.
14 But those who disobey Allah and His Messenger, and transgress His
limits will be admitted to a Fire to abide therein: and they shall have a
humiliating punishment.
Respected brother, firstly, at the death of your father,
all the property/wealth/cash he left behind should have been distributed
amongst his surviving heirs (his father, his mother, his wife, his two sons,
and his two daughters). Because you have
not given us the full details, we will assume that both his parents died before
him and at the time of his death he was survived by his wife, two sons and two
daughters; and assuming the total value of the wealth he left behind was
100,000.00, the distribution amongst his legal heirs would be as follows:
That should have been the distribution of the wealth which
was left behind by your father according to Shariah Law.
After the death of your mother, the
properties/wealth/cash, etc. which she left behind would be distributed amongst
her surviving legal heirs (ie. her father, her mother, her husband, her sons
and her daughters). Assuming that her
parents died before her; and assuming that she did not marry again after the
death of your father, her surviving legal heirs would be her two sons and her
two daughters. Assuming that the total
value of the wealth/lands/properties/cash/jewelry, etc. your mother left behind
was 50,000.00, the whole amount would be distributed amongst her children, the
sons getting twice the share of the daughters.
Thus in this particular case, each of her two daughters
would receive 8,333.33 and each of her two sons would receive (8,333.33 x 2)
16,666.66.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due
to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only
Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
