Fatwa

  1. Fatwa
  2. Fiqh of Transactions and Inheritance
  3. Fiqh of Inheritance
  4. Some issues related to inheritance

Deducting Hajj expenses from estate if deceased was able to perform Hajj but didn't
Fatwa No: 218158

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 1 (A full brother) Number 1 (A half brother (from his father)) Number 2 (A full paternal uncle) Number 3 (A cousin from a full paternal uncle) Number 4 -Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit : (A wife) Number 1 (A full sister) Number 2 - Information about the deceased’s debts : (Did not perform Hajj despite having the financial ability, and no one performed it on his behalf yet.)

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.

If the deceased did not offer Hajj while he was financially and physically able to offer it when people went for Hajj, then it is incumbent upon the heirs to deduct from the estate the expenses of Hajj to be offered on behalf of the deceased, before dividing the inheritance. That is because Hajj is a debt and thus has the priority over the right of the heirs in the estate. The author of Ar-Rawdh Al-Murbi' (a book of the Hanbali School of jurisprudence) said: "The Wasiyy (i.e. the executor of the will of the deceased), the heir or the ruler has to deduct the obligatory rights, such as debt, Hajj and other rights like Zakah, vows, expiations from the whole estate of the deceased, even if he did not make a bequest with that; for Allaah The Almighty says (what means): {After any bequest he [may have] made or debt.}[Quran 4:11]"

After deducting the expenses of Hajj, the remainder is to be Islamically divided between due recipients.

If the deceased did not have heirs except those mentioned in the question, then the wife and son only will inherit and nothing is given to the other persons stated in the question because they are prevented from the inheritance due to the existence of the son of the deceased. Based on this, the wife will get one-eighth of the inheritance due to the existence of the child of the deceased for Allaah The Almighty says (what means): {But if you leave a child, then for them is an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you [may have] made or debt.}[Quran 4:12]

The remainder goes to the son by Ta’seeb (by virtue of having a paternal relation with the deceased and not having an allotted share, so he gets what is left after the allotted shares have been distributed); for the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Give the prescribed share of inheritance to those who are eligible for it and the remainder [of it] is for the nearest male blood relative.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Thus, the estate will be divided into 8 shares: One-eighth for the wife (i.e. 1 share) and the remaining will be for the son (i.e. 7 shares).

Allaah Knows best.

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