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Died in debt, leaving parents, husband and 3 brothers and did not perform Hajj

Question

Assalaamu ‘Alaykum; Please calculate the inheritance according to the following information -Does the deceased have male relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A father) (A full brother) Number 3 (A Husband) -Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit : (A mother) - Information about the deceased’s debts : (Did not perform Hajj despite having the financial ability, and no one performed it on his behalf yet.) (Debts to people)

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.

First of all, it is incumbent on the heirs to pay off all the debts for which the deceased is liable before dividing the inheritance among themselves because paying off the debts is given priority over the heirs' rights to the inheritance.

Since the deceased did not perform the obligatory Hajj, scholars have held different opinions regarding the obligation of performing Hajj on his/her behalf in this case. The adopted opinion in Islamweb is that the heirs are obliged to deduct the expenses of Hajj from the estate (to be offered on behalf of the deceased) before distributing it among themselves if the deceased did not offer Hajj during the Hajj season while he/she was financially and physically able to offer it (because Hajj is a debt and thus has the priority over the right of the heirs in the estate). This is the opinion of the Shaafi‘i and Hanbali scholars.

If the estate is not sufficient to cover both Hajj expenses and repayment of debts, then Hajj expenses should be given precedence over the repayment of the debts according to the correct opinion of the Shaafi‘i school of Fiqh. The more correct opinion according to the Hanbali school of Fiqh is to divide the inheritance between the two proportionately; this is also one of the opinions of the Shaafi‘i school of Fiqh.

Al-Mawsoo‘ah Al-Fiqhiyyah (The Fiqh Encyclopedia) reads: "The Shaafi‘i and Hanbali jurists hold that if the deceased did not offer Hajj while being financially and physically able to offer it, it is incumbent upon the heirs to deduct the cost of performing Hajj from the deceased's estate and have someone perform Hajj on the deceased's behalf, regardless of whether he specified that in his will or not, similar to how the deceased's due debts should be deducted from the estate, regardless of whether he specified it in his will or not ... If the deceased did not offer Hajj, the heirs are obliged to deduct from the estate the expenses of Hajj to be offered on behalf of the deceased from the whole inheritance, even if the deceased did not state that in his will. This should be given priority over the repayment of debts, according to the Shaafi‘i scholars. The Hanbali scholars maintained that if the estate falls short of meeting these deductions (i.e. both the costs of Hajj and the repayment of debts), then a share of the due debts should be deducted for Hajj expenditure proportionately and the Hajj share should be paid for someone to perform Hajj on behalf of the deceased from the closest destination (to Makkah) in accordance with this share."

Hence, it is incumbent on the heirs to pay off all the debts and liabilities of the deceased and deduct the cost of Hajj before dividing the inheritance. After deducting the expenses of Hajj, debts, and liabilities, the remainder is to be divided among the prescribed beneficiaries according to the Islamic Law.

If the deceased did not have heirs except those mentioned in the question, then the husband should be given half of the estate because the deceased has no offspring entitled to a share in the inheritance. Allaah, The Almighty, says (what means): {And for you is half of what your wives leave if they have no child...}[Quran 4:12] The mother gets a sixth as a fixed share because of the existence of siblings. Allaah, The Almighty, says (what means): {... And if he had brothers [or sisters], for his mother is a sixth, after any bequest he [may have] made or debt...}[Quran 4:11]

The remainder goes to the father 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]

The brothers are not entitled to anything because they are excluded from the inheritance due to the existence of the father. Ibn Al-Munthir  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him wrote, "The jurists reached a scholarly consensus that the full-brothers, full-sisters, the half-brothers and half-sisters from the father’s side do not inherit if the deceased has a son or a grandson or even a great grandson, nor if the father is still alive." [Al-Ijmaa‘]

Thus, the estate will be divided into six shares: one-sixth for the mother (i.e. one share), half for the husband (i.e. three shares) and the remainder (i.e. two share) will be for the father.

Allaah Knows best.

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