The inheritance of a mother, a husband, two sons and a daughter
Fatwa No: 185045

Question

Assalaamu ‘Alaykum; Please calculate the inheritance according to the following information -Does the deceased have male relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A son) Number 2 (grandson (from the son)) Number 1 (A full brother) Number 1 (A Husband) -Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit : (A mother) (A daughter) Number 1 (A full sister) Number 2 - Additional information : The deceased was murdered for gain and had left no will,daughter is married, the deceased left two unmarried sons that time,can the father distribute the inheritance equally among all his three children or ask one of his children to buy the entire asset and then distribute the shares equally among all in order to avoid future disputes among each other,since he is planning to remarry..

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

It is not permissible for the husband to divide the inheritance between the two sons and the daughter equally, because this division contradicts the Islamic division and it is known that it is Allaah who decides how to divide the inheritance and not the husband. However, if an heir agrees to take less than his Islamic share while he is an adult and of sound mind, then he may do so and this is considered as renouncing the remainder of his share.

Besides, the husband is not permitted to force an heir to buy any portion of the inheritance because among the conditions for the validity of the sale contract is that both parties of the contract should consent to it, so the sale is not valid if both parties of the contract or one of them is unlawfully forced to conduct the contract.

As regards what you mentioned that the husband fears some kind of dispute between the heirs, then this should not be a reason for changing the Law of Allaah.

The heirs should know that it is an obligation on the Muslim to be satisfied with the rulings of the Sharee’ah and he should accept them in regard to the division of inheritance and other issues like the father’s intention to remarry, because being content with the ruling of Allaah and the ruling of His Prophet   is among the requirements of faith. Allaah Says (what means): {But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.}[Quran 4:65]

Shaykh As-Sa’di   said about the interpretation of this verse: “Allaah swore by His Most Honorable Self that they would not believe until they make the Messenger judge in all disputes between them, i.e. in everything over which there is a dispute.... This judgment is not enough until there is no discomfort or embarrassment in their hearts, and there is no lack of conviction when accepting his judgment. Rather, they should fully and completely submit themselves to it while finding rest for their souls and openness of their chests, and they should fully accept it and abide by it outwardly and inwardly. So, making the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam,  judge (between us) is considered as Islam, and not being embarrassed is considered as ‘Eemaan (faith), and submission is considered as Ihsaan (i.e. excellence and perfection of worship) and whoever fulfils fully these levels, he has indeed completed all the levels of the religion. Based on this, whoever abandons the said judgment whiling denying it, he is a disbeliever, and whoever abandons it while believing in it, he takes the same ruling as other sinners like him.” [End quote]

However, if the deceased did not leave any other heirs except those mentioned in the question, then her mother gets one-sixth of the inheritance as her legal share due to the existence of the children of the deceased and the existence of the siblings; as Allaah Says (what means): {And for one’s parents, to each one of them is a sixth of his estate if he left children. But if he had no children and the parents [alone] inherit from him, then for his mother is one third. And if he had brothers [and/or sisters], for his mother is a sixth.}[Quran 4:11]

Her husband gets one-fourth of the inheritance as his legal share due to the existence of the children; Allaah Says (what means): {But if they have a child, for you is one fourth of what they leave, after any bequest they [may have] made or debt.}[Quran 4:12]

The remainder should be divided amongst the two sons and the daughter by Ta’seeb (by virtue of having a paternal relation with the deceased and not having an allotted share, so they get what is left after the allotted shares have been distributed); the male twice the share of the female as Allaah Says (what means): {Allaah instructs you concerning your children [i.e. their portions of inheritance]: for the male, what is equal to the share of two females.}[Quran 4:11]

On the other hand, the sons of the brother and the full brother and the two full sisters do not get anything from the inheritance because they are prevented by the existence of the son of the deceased.

Based on this, the inheritance should be divided into 60 shares, the mother gets one-sixth, which is 10 shares, the husband gets one-fourth, which is 15 shares, and each son gets 14 shares and the daughter gets 7 shares.

Allaah Knows best.

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