Division of inheritance among a wife, two daughters and two nephews Fatwa No: 316084
- Fatwa Date:5-3-2016
Assalaamu alaykum. Please calculate the inheritance according to the following information: - Does the deceased have male relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A nephew from a full brother) Number 2 - Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A daughter) Number 2 (A wife) 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 heirs entitled to inherit behind other than those mentioned in the question, then the estate should be divided among them as follows:
The deceased's two daughters get two-thirds of the estate as a fixed share given the absence of an heir who enables them to inherit this share through taʻseeb (i.e. 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); Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {But if there are (only) daughters, two or more, for them is two thirds of one’s estate.} [Quran 4:11] Moreover, the Prophet ruled two-thirds of the estate for the two daughters of Saʻd ibn Ar-Rabee' . [Ahmad, Abu Daawood and At-Tirmithi]
The wife gets one-eighth of the estate as her legal share due to the existence of the deceased's children (direct heirs). 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 remainder of the estate is divided between the deceased's nephews from his full brother, by virtue of taʻseeb, after deducting the fixed shares of the daughters and wife. The Prophet said, "Give the fara'idh (the shares of the inheritance that are prescribed in the Quran) to those who are entitled to receive them, and the remainder should be given to the closest male relative of the deceased." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Based on that, the estate is divided into twenty-four shares and in this case, the two nephews get five shares. To give each nephew his share without fractions, the twenty-four shares will be multiplied by two. Hence, the estate should be divided into forty-eight shares; the two daughters get two-thirds of the shares (thirty-two shares; each gets sixteen shares), the wife gets one-eighth of the shares (six shares), and the two nephews get the rest (ten shares; each gets five shares).
Allaah knows best.