Fatwa ID: 01597
Answered by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Question:
I write to enquire about the inheritance following a deceased relation.
The deceased in question has left behind a wife, 1 son and 4 daughters. 2 of his sons had died, one in 2005, and in 2007. The sons that have died have got children, (I.e. The deceased's grandchildren.) The deceased also has 1 sister alive. Recently, some assets of the deceased (land/property) have been put for sale, and while the deceased was alive, he had verbally said that he would split the proceeds from the assets between his son, daughters, and the children of his deceased sons in equal parts. Now that he passed away, how should the assets etc be distributed? I would be grateful if you could advise how this should be split in line with Shariah. I request your duaas for the deceased and for his family.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful.
The first issue we are going to look at is that when a person offers to sell something and he passes away without managing to sell that item, the offer which was made will become annulled at the time of his death.
However, if the inheritors with everyone’s permission make a new offer, then the proceeds from the sale will have to be distributed according to the laws of Shariah, which entails that a son will get double than what the daughter gets. During ones lifetime, whatever the father gives to his children is considered as a gift and in that situation he should give his children equally.
There are four categories of giving gifts to one’s children.
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Where the parents intend to harm and avoid giving the rights to the children. This is Makruh Tahrimi.
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Where the parents do not intend to harm the children or avoid giving their rights, however, there is no valid reason of preference of one child over another, this will be Makruh Tanzihi.
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If one child is preferred due to him being in the path of Allah, such as studying sacred knowledge, then it is desirable to prefer one child over the other.
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If a child is deprived from receiving extra wealth due to him being irreligious and a sinner then it is mustuhub to deprive him. (Bahrur Raaiq p.288 v.7 & Ahsanul Fatawa p.256 v.7)
Regarding this question, as your father passed away before he could distribute the proceeds of the sale, Shariah Law will take over and its rules will be implemented and as the Shariah dictates that sons get double of the daughters then in that way the proceeds will be distributed.
The deceased’s total estate will be distributed in the following way:
8/ 48 6
Wife 1 Son (6) 4 Daughters Grandchildren Sister
6 14 42 7 Deprived Deprived
In the aforementioned scenario, the wife will receive 6 shares from the total estate. The son will receive 14 shares and each of the daughters will receive 7 shares. The grandchildren and the deceased’s sister will not receive anything.
Only Allah Knows Best
Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
