A man died leaving a wife, two daughters, one brother and two sisters

04/04/2010| IslamWeb

Question:

I would like to know the inheritance in the case when father died leaving behind only wife and 2 daughters, but he has 1 brother and 2 sisters as well. How will the property be divided after the debts are given considering that he left 40,000 value of property? How much will each one get, and who all will inherit him and how much specific amount of share will each one receive. Do the brother and sisters also inherit and what is their amount if yes. And considering the above case same with the exception that the deceased also left father and mother as well. Then who are the heirs in this case and how much each one will get the amount. That is he left father, mother, 2 daughters, 1 brother, and 2 sisters.  

 

Fatwa:

 

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.

  

As far as the first deceased is concerned, who left a wife, two daughters, a brother and two sisters, then the wife will get one-eighth of the inheritance, the two daughters will get two thirds, and the reminder will be divided among the brother and the two sisters, for the male a portion equal to that of two females, on the condition that all of them are full brother and full sisters or all of them are brothers and sisters from father's side only. So if some of them are full brother and full sisters, and some are brother or sisters from father's side only, then the remainder of inheritance will be divided among the full brother and sisters only and the brother or sisters from father's side only will not get anything.

 

If we suppose that the children are all full brother and full sisters or that they are all brother and sisters from father's side only, the inheritance of their deceased father will be divided into 24 shares, so:

-         The wife will get 3 shares.

-         Each sister will get 8 shares.

-         The brother, whether he is a full brother or from father's side only, will get 2.5 shares.

-         Each of the sisters will get 1 ¼ shares.

 

As regards the second deceased if he had left a wife, two daughters, a father, a mother, a brother and two sisters, then the inheritance will be divided as follows:

-         The wife will get one-eighth of inheritance.

-         The daughters will get two thirds.

-         The mother will get one-sixth.

-         The father will get one-sixth as well.

 

However, the brothers and sisters will get absolutely nothing, whether they are brother and sisters from father's side, or are full brother and full sisters or some of them are full brother and sisters and some are from father's side only.

 

Therefore, the inheritance will be divided into 27 shares because there is what we call in Arabic 'Awl, which means that the shares of inheritors exceed the sum of the total inheritance and by applying the laws of 'Awl the shares are regulated, so:

-         The wife will get 3 shares.

-         Each daughter will get 8 shares.

-         The mother will get 4 shares.

-         The father will get 4 shares as well.

 

Finally, we advise you to take your case to an Islamic court which will take the task of dividing the inheritance for you because it is such complex an issue. It might be that there is another heir whom you did not realize as being so, and he or she will only be found after carrying out an investigation. So a mere Fatwa which is issued according to your question is not enough.

 

Allah Knows best.

 

Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb