Inheritance among a Wife, Two Sons and Four Daughters
Fatwa No: 416836

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
(A full brother) Number 4
(A half brother (from his father)) Number 1
-Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit :
(A daughter) Number 4
(A wife) Number 1

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, is His slave and Messenger.

If the deceased did not leave any other heirs except those mentioned in the question, then his wife gets one-eighth of the estate as her legal share due to the existence of the children of the deceased; Allah, The Exalted, 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 rest of the estate should be divided between his two sons and his four daughters by Ta‘seeb (i.e., to inherit a non-fixed portion of the estate, like a forth or a half, after the allotted shares have been distributed). The male gets twice the share of the female; Allah, The Exalted, Says (what means): {Allah 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]

All the brothers, whether the full brothers or half-brothers from the father’s side, are not entitled to any part of the inheritance because they are prevented by the existence of a son. Ibn Al-Munthir said in Al-Ijmaa’’: “They (scholars) unanimously agreed that the full-brothers and full-sisters as well as half-brothers and half-sisters from the father’s side do not inherit if the deceased had a son, a grandson, a great-grandson (down to all levels), or in the presence of a father.” [End of quote]

Thus, the estate should be divided into sixty-four shares; the wife gets one-eighth, i.e. eight shares, each son gets fourteen shares, and each daughter gets seven shares.

Allah Knows best.

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