IN the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
The Holy Qur’an, Hadid, 57:1-3, says, “Whatever is in the heavens and on earth, let it declare the praises and glory of God for He is Exalted in Might, the Wise. To Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. It is He Who gives life and death; and He has power over all things. He is the First and the last, the Evident and the Immanent and He has full knowledge of all things”.
In the scheme of estate distribution in Islamic inheritance, all estates are expected to be checked and written with the representatives of the heirs concerned present. Though some household goods should be sold at the current market value and combined with the estates to be shared, some of the items should be left for general use. Principles hold that females inherit as well as males, the relatives who have no legal shares, orphans, and indigent people are not to be treated rudely or harshly, if present at the time of division. They may be given part of the property being shared to cater for their needs.
The Holy Qur’an, An-Nisaa, 4:7-8 attests, “From what is left by parents and those nearest related there is a share for men and a share for women whether the property be small or large a determinate share. But if at the time of division other relatives of orphans or poor are present feed them out of the (property) and speak to them words of kindness and justice”.
As regards inheritance for parents, the father is entitled to one-sixth of the estate if no male child. The mother and father will have one-sixth if the deceased had no children, and the mother is to have one-third if he had no child. And in a situation where the deceased left only a daughter, she is entitled to half of the estate in Islamic inheritance. Indeed, the children’s shares are fixed but their amount will depend upon what goes to the parents.
If both parents are living and there are also children, both father and mother take a sixth each. If only one parent is living, he or she takes his or her sixth and the rest goes to the children. If the parents are living, and there are no children, but there are brothers and sisters, the mother has a sixth. The children and parents have definite shares if they survive, but their shares are affected by the existence and number of the heirs in these categories.
However, in the case of husband and wife in Islamic inheritance, the husband takes half of his deceased wife’s property if she leaves no child, the rest goes to residuary. But if she leaves a child, the husband gets only a fourth. Following the rule that the female shares generally half the male’s share, the widow gets a fourth of her deceased husband’s property if he leaves no children, and one eighth if he leaves children. If there are more widows than one, their collective share is a fourth or eighth, as the case may be. Inter se, they divide equally.
Meanwhile, in the case of a man or woman leaving neither ascendants nor descendants, however distant or remote, the uterine brother or sister by the same mother but not of the same father, if only one survives, takes a sixth.
But if more than one survives, they take one-third collectively, and divide among themselves, once there are no descendants or ascendants. There may, however be a widow or widower surviving she or he takes her or his share as already specified. And if the deceased Muslim without a descendant or ascendant is survived by full brothers and sisters or brothers and sisters by the same father but different mothers, the sister will have half of the inheritance if a deceased male. If it is a deceased woman who left no child, her brother takes her inheritance. If there are two sisters, they will have two-thirds between them. If there are brothers and sisters, they share the inheritance the male having twice the share of the female (Qur’an 4:176).
Under the Fara’id, inheritance divides into “fixed” and “variable” categories. Fara’id (also referred to as the Mirath) is the required portion of property distribution. It represents two-thirds of a deceased person’s property. This property must be distributed as per the Quranic requirements to your remaining heirs, which includes your spouse, children and parents (and possibly others depending on who is living at the time of the death).
The fixed shares are for your spouse and parents. Here is the summary of what fraction of an inheritance every person in the “fixed” category should receive: I. The surviving husband receives one-half of the assets involved. II. The surviving husband receives one-fourth of the assets if he has children. III. The surviving wife receives one-fourth of the assets involved. IV. The surviving wife receives one-eighth of the assets if she has children. V. The deceased person’s mother and father will receive one-sixth of a share each. VI. If the deceased person has children, the remaining shares will go to the children in a 2:1 ration for sons and daughters (Qur’an 4:7-9, 11-12, 19, 33, 176; 5:106-108).
The eldest child does not get an increased share by virtue of being the oldest. However, sons will receive two shares for every one share that a daughter gets. This apportioning is like the husband-and-wife ratio.
When distributing assets to the deceased person’s parents, each of their amounts remains equal despite the gender difference. This is consistent with the Islamic notion of the male as the person responsible for the entire family unit.
Accordingly, the male’s share is given on the basis that he will spend it upon the family, as needed. A daughter’s inheritance has no such conditions.
The shares of collaterals and Islamic inheritance generally are calculated on a complicated or mathematical system, which should be popularised among the Muslim Ummah. More awareness and enlightenment should be created for it so that it may save many families of the turmoil that is being engendered by the crises of inheritance.
Islamic foundations across the world should promote scholarship on the knowledge of Islamic inheritance, which remains a model and a unique law that surpasses all man-made, and crises ridden inheritance laws. It is high time Arabic and Islamic institutions rose up to this challenge, as a negligible few of the Islamic scholars actually know inheritance law as specified in the Holy Qur’an.
The Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) says, “It is the duty of a Muslim who has anything to bequeath not to let two nights pass without writing a will about it” (Sahih Al-Bukhari).
Another Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) asks us to: “Learn the science of inheritance because it is from your religion, it is half of knowledge, and it is the first knowledge that would be removed from my nation”.
Our philanthropists too should promote the religion of peace in this regard by arousing the interest of budding Islamic scholars in this special area of Islamic knowledge through sponsorships, donations, and endowment of professorial chairs.
The lackadaisical attitude of a Muslim in the handling of his will and bequeathal may lead to Hell Fire in the Hereafter (Qur’an 2:180, 240). The Holy Qur’an 4:13-14 says, “Those are limits set by God: those who obey God and His Apostle will be admitted to Gardens with rivers flowing beneath to abide therein (forever) and that will be the Supreme achievement. But those who disobey God and His Apostle and transgress His limits will be admitted to a fire to abide therein: and they shall have a humiliating punishment”.
A Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) says, “A man may do good deeds for 70 years but if he acts unjustly when he leaves his last testament, the wickedness of his deed will be sealed upon him, and he will enter the Fire”.
Another Hadith says, “If, on the other hand, a man acts wickedly for 70 years but is just in his last will and testament, the goodness of his deed will be sealed upon him, and he will enter the Garden” (Ahmed and Ibn Majah).
May Almighty Allah, in His infinite mercies, continue to guide us aright. Amen).
and then