Inheritance of a wife, nephews and nieces
12-8-2009 | IslamWeb
Question:
If a person died leaving some property and left wife without children but nephews and nieces are there, but whose father is not alive. How will his propery 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, is His Slave and Messenger.
Nieces are not entitled to a share in the inheritance because they are not among the heirs of the deceased.
The questioner did not mention whether the nephews are the sons of a full or half (paternal or maternal) brother. If we supposed that they are sons of a full brother or a half (paternal not maternal) brother of the dead person and there was only a wife and nephews without any other inheritor such as a father, mother, grandfather or grandmother, then the wife will take one fourth as Allaah The Almighty Said (what means): {… And for the wives is one fourth if you leave no child…}[Quran 4:12]
The rest of the inheritance will be for the nephews by right of Asabah (i.e. the closest paternal relatives who are entitled to inherit the residue after those who have fixed share in the inheritance), as the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Give the prescribed shares of inheritance to those who are entitled to receive them. Then whatever remains should be given to the closest male relative of the deceased." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Consequently, the wife will take one fourth and the nephews three fourths that will be divided among them equally.
Finally, it should be noted that the matter of inheritance is very complex an issue, so a mere Fatwa which is an answer issued according to the question is not enough. Rather, the matter should be taken to an Islamic court to look into the case, or it should be presented orally (in person) to the scholars in case there are no Islamic courts. It might be that there is an heir who would not be known except after investigation, and there might also be a will, debts, or other dues that are not known to the heirs. It is known that there 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, in order to fulfil the interests of the dead and the live people.
Allaah Knows best.