A father passed away. He left behind a house & 6 children. The eldest lived in the house with the permision of the other siblings. The problem comes in when a roof needed repairs. There are 2 conflicting stories. The eldest son says he asked the other siblings if he would be compensated for the repair after he left & they said yes. The other siblings say that he did not ask & made the repairs because he was living there.

My questions are:

1. Is he alowed to ask to be compensated & if not do they have to compensate him?

2.If there wasn’t an agreement is it expected for him to be compensated?

In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful.

Answer

Before answering your question a few points need to be clarified. Firstly, the eldest sibling who is living in the house with the permission of the other siblings is not considered as distribution of the inheritance. The shares/rights of the other siblings still remain on the house. (Kifayatul Mufti p.284 v.8)

Secondly, as we have established above that the rights of the heirs still remain on the house then every single heir according to their share of the inheritance has to fund the repairing of the roof. (Kifayatul Mufti p.121 v.8)

With regards to your question it is permissible for him to ask to be compensated for the repairing of the roof even though there may not have been an agreement.

Only Allah Knows Best

Mohammed Tosir Miah