One brother and four sisters did not divide their inheritance until they died

5-9-2007 | IslamWeb

Question:

Salaam...A man with one son and 4 daughters died leaving behind some property. The son and 2 of the daughters married and had children. The other 2 daughters did not marry. This generation lived together and did not divide the property. All 5 are now dead. The third generation, ie the children of these son and daughters now wish to divide the property among themselves. They know the Islamic ruling of division between men and women, but the question before them is whether the share of the 2 dead sisters (their aunts) will be considered, and if yes, then what will happen to it, as they are dead. This is a live case, so kindly reply as soon as possible, in full detail, with references from the Qur'aan and Sunnah as far as possible, without any leaning towads any particular Madhab.Wassalaam...

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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 is His slave and Messenger.

 

The inheritance of the mentioned dead person is distributed among all his heirs including his two unmarried daughters. If the deceased left one son and four daughters as mentioned, and did not leave any other inheritor such as a wife, then his inheritance is divided into six shares; two shares are for the son and one share for each daughter.

The two daughters who died and did not leave a successor deserved their share in the inheritance of their father which should have been distributed among their inheritors after their death.

The enquiring brother did not mention who died first and who died last, and neither did he mention the inheritors of each of them.

However, the issues of inheritance can not be solved unless all the details are clearly known. Therefore, we urge the enquiring brother to refer to the Islamic court to look into this matter so that every one can take his right.

Allaah Knows best.