Daughter of the son inherits if there is no daughter Fatwa No: 228811
- Fatwa Date:9-12-2013
Assalaamu ‘Alaykum; Please calculate the inheritance according to the following information -Does the deceased have male relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A full brother) Number 2 (A nephew from a full brother) Number 2 -Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit : (A mother) (A granddaughter (from the son)) Number 1 (A wife) Number 1 (A full sister) Number 1
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 is His slave and Messenger. If the deceased did not leave any other heir except those mentioned in the question, then his mother gets one-sixth of the estate as her legal share due to the existence of the offspring of the deceased (i.e. his children or grandchildren). Allaah says (what means): {...And for one’s parents, to each one of them is a sixth of his estate if he left children...}[Quran 4:11] His wife gets one-eighth as her legal share due to the existence of the offspring of the deceased; Allaah says (what means): {...But if you leave a child, then for them [i.e. the wives] is an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you [may have] made or debt...}[Quran 4:12] The daughter of his son gets a half as her legal share as Allaah says about the existence of only one daughter (what means): {...And if there is only one [daughter], for her is half...}[Quran 4:11] Even though the above verse was revealed regarding the daughter, the daughter of the son [i.e. granddaughter] is like the daughter according to the agreement of the scholars as she is considered a daughter of the deceased. Sharh Az-Zarkashi ‘ala Mukhtasar Al-Khiraqi (a Hanbali book) reads: “The daughters of the son are like the (direct) daughters when there are no daughters; this is a consensus. The evidence for this is the saying of Allaah (which 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] and the children of the children are considered as one’s children.” Moreover, Kashshaaf Al-Qinaa’ (a Hanbali book) reads: “The daughters of the son when there are no (direct) daughters – whether one or more than one – are like them [like the direct daughters], so the only daughter of the son gets a half…” The remainder should be divided amongst the two full-brothers and the full-sister 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); a male gets twice the share of a female, as Allaah says (what means): {If there are both brothers and sisters, the male will have the share of two females...}[Quran 4:176] The two sons of the full-brother do not get anything as they are excluded from inheritance due the existence of the full-brothers. Based on this, the inheritance should be divided into 24 shares, the mother gets one-sixth which is 4 shares, the wife gets one-eighth which is 3 shares, the daughter of the son gets a half which is 12 shares. Each full-brother gets 2 shares and the full-sister gets 1 share. Allaah Knows best.