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Inheritance of wife, a daughter and four brothers

Question

I wanted to know the rule of inheritance (Meeras) according to Shariah. If a person had a daughter, wife and four brothers, and he died. How his wealth will be divided.

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 ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

If there are no other heirs than those mentioned in the question, then the inheritance should be divided as follows:

The daughter gets half of the inheritance, and the wife gets one-eighth portion of the inheritance due to the existence of children, and the brothers would get the remainder.

If the deceased left any sisters, then the brothers would get twice of the share of the female (their sister). This is, of course, in case all of them are either full brothers (from same father and mother), or that all of them are brothers from the father's side only.

However, if they are mixed and there are brothers from the father's side only as well as full brothers, then the half brothers are prevented from the inheritance due to the existence of the full brothers. If among them, there are brothers from the mother's side only, then they are prevented from the inheritance due to the existence of the full daughter.

In case all of them are brothers from the mother's side only, then the remainder of the inheritance is given to the full daughter.

Finally, it should be noted that in matters pertaining to the inheritance, it is more appropriate to take the case to an Islamic court for it to look into the matter, as both parties are bound by its ruling which puts an end to any disputes that might arise.

Allaah Knows best.

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