Assalamulaikum.My question is on heritance. A mother whose husband had passed away had four children.The eldest is a son and the rest are three daughters.The eldest son pass away first.Much later the mother passed away.How is the property of the mother divided among the three daughters?Thank you.

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.

The inheritance of the mother should be divided on her daughters, and they are entitled for two-thirds of the inheritance; Allaah Says (what means): {But if there are [only] daughters, two or more, for them is two thirds of one’s estate.}[Quran 4:11].

If the mother did not leave heirs other than her daughters, like a brother, a sister or other heirs, then the remaining third will be divided on the daughters as well; in this case all the property [inheritance] should be equally divided amongst them, as they are principally entitled for their share and there is no other heir to take the remaining share in which case it is also divided amongst them.

It should be noted that inheritance is a very complex an issue, therefore you should not rely on a mere Fatwa issued according to the question asked. Hence, it is an obligation to take the issue to an Islamic court (if any) as there might be an heir who would not be known except after investigation, and there might be a will, debts, or other dues that are not known to the heirs, and it is known that these rights come in priority over the right of the heirs. Therefore, the inheritance should not be divided without resorting to an Islamic court, if any, or the case should be presented orally (in person) to the scholars in order to fulfil the interests of the dead and live people.

In case the inheritance of the father was never divided, then it should be divided among his wife and children, males and females. The wife will get an eighth share of the inheritance and the remaining will be divided among all the children, the male twice the portion of the female. Then the mother and her daughters will inherit her son; the mother is will get one-sixth share of the inheritance and the daughters two-thirds. The inheritance of the mother will be divided as we already mentioned.