I am often deluged with various questions from people seeking legal pronouncements, and from amongst them, I was asked concerning the permissibility of denying one’s offspring inheritance due to their disobedience and disregard for their parents at times of dire need and attention. Would it then be permissible to redistribute their share to those offspring who actually took care of the parents?
Disobedience to one’s parents is a common problem found within our community although Islam is unique in that it strongly emphasises the rights of parents (over and above that of offspring), and grants them a noble position. Allah says in the Qur’an,
‘And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in terms of honour.’[1]
It is a major sin for a person to either harm or cause grief to one or both parents, however, excluding one’s inheritor from his/her share in any assets left by the deceased is a grave sin, indeed, it is considered one of the kabā’ir (major sins). Furthermore, to refuse an inheritor his/her God given right is seen as a dismissal of the ruling of Allah and His divine will. We find such a notion expressly stated in the Qur’an where Allah the Most High, after discussing the shares allotted to inheritors, says,
“And whosoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits, He will cast him into the Fire, to abide therein; and he shall have a disgraceful torment.”[2]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
‘Allah has given each person who has rights his rights, and there is no bequest for an heir.’[3]
All jurists have unanimously agreed that it is absolutely prohibited to deny an heir from his/her share. Once a person dies, he/she has no right over worldly wealth and assets; in fact, none have a right over the wealth of the deceased except Allah who distributes it in accordance with His will as stated in the Qur’an. The renowned exegete Ibn Kathῑr stated, ‘This is because he changed what Allah has ordained and disputed with His judgment. Indeed, this is the behaviour of those who disagree with what Allah has decided and divided, and this is why Allah punishes them with humiliation in the eternal and painful torment.’ Abu Hurairah relates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,
‘A man might perform the actions of righteous people for seventy years, but when it is time to compile his will, he commits injustice. So his final work will be his worst, and thus he enters the Fire. A man might perform the deeds of evil people for seventy years, yet he is fair in his will. So his final work will be his best, and he thus enters Paradise.’[4]
Abū Hurairah then said, “Read (if you will): ‘And whosoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad SAW), and transgresses His limits, He will cast him into the Fire, to abide therein; and he shall have a disgraceful torment.’”
The very famous traditionalist (muhaddith) Abū Dawūd al-Sajistani narrates in his compilation that Abū Hurairah relates, in the chapter on ‘Injustice in the will’, that the Messenger of Allah said,
‘A man or a woman might perform actions in obedience to Allah for sixty years. Yet, when they are near death, they leave an unfair will and thus acquire the Fire.’
Abū Hurairah then recited the verse,
‘…after payment of legacies he (or she) may have bequeathed or debts, so that no loss is caused.’[5]
In the proceeding moments after the death of an individual, his/her assets are already assigned to their legal heirs according to the Will of Allah. Therefore, writing a will whereby a legal heir is unable to acquire that which Allah has bestowed upon him/her is equal to theft, the shar’ii (legal) term being ghasb. In western non-Muslim countries the writing of the will is merely a measure taken in order to ensure that the distribution of assets is in accordance with Islamic law; apart from this minor point, such a will has neither value nor meaning in the shari’ah.
Some people claim that several family members are undeserving of inheritance and so they formally deny them of their share. However, it is not for any human being to decide as to who is most deserving of a share of the assets, for indeed, Allah is the best of judges.
In terms of disobedience to one’s parents, the punishment for such disobedience lies with Allah and none but He can decide the appropriate chastisement, but this does not include the denial of inheritance. Abū Umāmah narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
‘Allah has appointed for everyone who has a right what is due to him and no bequest must be made to an heir.’[6]
Being entitled to inheritance does not come about through servitude to the departed; rather, it is a right that is secured through the existence of a specific relationship with the deceased. A wisdom to affording a legal heir deemed contemptible may be that it might cause a sense of regret in the offender and alter his conduct and outlook. The inheritor might start to supplicate or give charity on behalf of the deceased who will inevitably be in dire need of even a single hasanah (good deed).
Depriving a legal heir from his/her share is to increase the share of others with the share of the one who was deprived. This is undoubtedly consuming the wealth of others without justified cause. Allah staunchly forbids this, saying,
‘And eat up not one another’s property unjustly (in any illegal way e.g. stealing, robbing, deceiving, etc), nor give bribery to the rulers (judges before presenting your cases) that you may knowingly eat up a part of the property of others sinfully.’[7]
The one who receives the wealth of another should refuse it, and if he has already received it he should endeavour to return it to its rightful owner. It is totally prohibited for a person to make use of wealth that does not belong to him/her.
In conclusion, there is much divine wisdom underlying the prohibition of denying someone his/her legal share, but the foremost point is that it is impermissible to alter what Allah has ordained. Allah the Almighty says,
‘It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any opinion in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed strayed into a plain error.’[8]
[donationbanner]
Notes:
Source: www.islam21c.com
[5] Qur’ān 4:12
[6] Reported by al-Tirmidhῑ. Similar ahādith are narrated by ‘Amr ibn Khārijah and reported by Ahmad et al.
Assalamu Alaykum.
Well, Am |Abubakar Nasiru Phone number +2347034195581, we re 22 number in the family and our father died since over 15yrs ago and my elder brothers take over the property since then and know we all have decided to distribute it now and the said we cant, we invited elder to them but there said No. Am sending this message for help please.
The Names of our elder brother and their Phone number are:
1. Abubakar Abdulkarim +234837953296
2. Abubakar Musa +2348038891661
According to the Quran Please help Us talk to them
Well, we re 22 number in the family and our father died since over 15yrs ago and my elder brothers take over the property since then and know we all have decided to distribute it now and the said we cant, we invited elder to them but there said No. Am sending this message for help please.
The Names of our elder brother and their Phone number are:
1. Abubakar Abdulkarim +234837953296
2. Abubakar Musa +2348038891661
According to the Quran Please help Us talk to them
My father once a big political Muslim leader has disowned his only 2 daughters after the death of his wife and 2 sons because he wants to give everything property worth 1500 millions leving daughters penny less he says he got them married thats finished do please advice
please my mother died but my family says i will not inherit her, because they are suspecting that i am a christian, while i am still a muslim, please what Quran and Hadith says about this issue, please i need reason to defrnd myself in the court
Asalamualaikum.i was an an adopted son,now few months back my father died and he did not made any will.Now my uncles are saying that me as an adopted son will not get any share from my dads property’s.Is this true please answer. thanku
Firstly im sorry for my poor english and spelling error. Really appreaciate for your help. My mum and dad have divorce since i was 6years old, leaving my mum with me a son and one daugther. Now im 24 and my sister is 21, and we receive a letter from the goverment on 15august 2015 that my dad have passed away. The last time i met my father is when i was 9 years old. And that was the last time. In the letter say that, he left behind some inherantance but no one was nominate yet. I was quite shock when i receive that letter, as no one even his own brother or sister know that he have passed away. I know he was married to one women in indonesia, and i was living in singapore. I tried to dig out everything i could, with a least of information about him, and settle all the document as i know nothing at all about him after he divorce with my mum and get married to another women. To my shocked that he was already dead on the 24 feb 2015 and it took the public trustee ard 6month to find me and my sister through my mother by sending the non claim inheritances. I was told that, His body was left in the hospital for a month or two for someone to claim it ,but since no one knew abou it, so the (muis) which incharge of the muslim organization in my country settle everything such as his burials and the important thing that should be done on him. So it will take me sometime as, i will need to extract everything such as his death cert , inheritance cert by syaria court and many other document. Now my intention is use his money that he left to settle all the debts burial and prayers for him eventhough i may hate him before for what he has done to my mother in past ,is all forgiven (and i know its not good to talk bad about the deaceased)as im quite sad to know that ,not even a single soul know about his death and claims his body even he is still married to the other wife. Seriously from bottom of myheart, i dont want to take his money but willing to help him settle his debts , he left in this world using his own money and donate the money to my sister or charity if there are some left after settling the important things and the ‘amanah’ as im the oldest son in all eventhough he never did give us any nafkah even when my mother claim for it in the past. As now we are above 21 so the nafkah all stop for us as the law say he can stop giving us nafkah if we reach 21 ( mistake me if im wrong). Every humans do mistake so i leave all to the almighty to judge, with so little knowledge about islam , even in this post i may be wrong when i feel that im right. I need assistance. But what hurts me is that when i tried to inherits his inheritance, his wife had already claim for it on the 2 july 2015, and im really pissed off as she was able to claims for it eventhough it has not been successful yet with another 2 name which i think is that my late father daugther when he was married to my stepmom. Im just angry, that, if she was in singapore at that moment why she never settle and do her best to claim her husband body and burials. So if she was at indonesia at that moment, she could not have knew abt my father death also, as no letter will be send to her as she married him at indonesia and nothing can show that she is the wife of my father in my country. So now , i presume she know abt his death and now she is claiming it for her and her 2 daughter. I dont mind giving my step sister their share, as they have nothing to do in this. But for my stepmom, i seriously dont want to let her have her share as for me its really saddening to know that my late father was just left like that even he still have his legal wife. I dont care if they have not met for years with each other or any stories that happen when he was still alive, but why only now my stepmom appear when she know she can claim her share. I need some advice. And i know that by syariah law she have right eventhough she did not married my father in this country. I dont want her to touch my father inheritance a single share, but im willing to share it with my father 3daughthers. What should i do. If you need any info, im willing to give you more. I just want to know, wheatther im rights if i want to do this, or what is the right thing that im suppose to do, as for now i know im the only oldest son. Unless the name that i saw in syariah law that one of her children is son. I presume both of her children is a girl by their name that i saw in the claims paper. But what If one of them is a son below 21yrds old. What should i do. As now im willing to settle my father whatsever debts or the thing he need to be done that are left with his share he left for us before i proceed with the faraid. If nothing is left after everything, i dont even mind as i really do not want to touch the money of a deceased if i have not settle his debts or the trust i should do as the oldest son. At least thats the best what i could do for him after not have to able to see him since that 9years old. Please help me go through this. divorce since i was 6years leaving my mum with me a son and one daugther. Now im 24 and my sister is 21, and we receive a letter from the goverment on 15august 2015 that my dad have passed away. The last time i met my father is when i was 9 years old. And that was the last time. In the letter say that, he left behind some inherantance but no one was nominate yet. I was quite shock when i receive that letter, as no one even his brother or sister know that he have passed away. I know he was married to one women in indonesia, and i was living in singapore. I tried to dig out everything i could, with a least information about him, and settle all the document as i know nothing at all about him after he divorce with my mum and get married to another women. To my shocked that he was already died on the 24 feb 2015 and it took the public trustee to find me and my sister through my mother by sending the non claim inherits. His body was left in the hospital for a month or two for someone to claim it but since no one no it, the (muis) which incharge of the muslim society in my country settle everything such as his burials and the important thing that should be done on him. So it will take me time as, i will need to extract everything such as death cert , inheritance cert by syaria court and many other document. Now my intention is use his money that he left to settle all the debts burial and prayers for him eventhough i may hate him before for what he has done to my mother in past is all forgiven as im quite sad to know that no even a single soul know about his death and claims his body as he is still married to the other wife. Seriously from bottom of myvheart, i dont want to take his money but wishbto help him settle his debts things he left in this world using his own money and donate the money to my sister or charity if there are left after settling the important things eventhough he never did give us any nafkah even after my mother claim for it in the past. As now we are above 21 so the nafkah all stop for us as the law say he can stop giving us nafkah if we reach 21 ( mistake me if im wrong). But what hurts me is that when i tried to inherits his inheritance, his wife had already claim for it on the 2 july 2015, and im really pissed off as she was able to claims for it eventhough it has not been successful yet and another 2 name which i think is that my late father daugther when he was married to my stepmom. Im just angry, is that, if she was in singapore at that moment why she never settle and do her best to claim her husband body and burials. So if she was at indonesia at that moment, she could not have knew abt my father death also, as no letter will be send to her as she married him at indonesia and nothing can show that she is the wife of my father. So now , i presume she know abt his death and now she is claiming it for her and her 2 daughter. I dont min giving my step sister their share, as they have nothing to do in this. But for my stepmom, i seriously dont want to let her have her share as for me its really saddening to know that my late father was just left like that even he still have his wife. I dont care if they have not met for years with each other, but why only now my stepmom appear when she know she can claim her share. I need some advice. And i know that by syariah law she have right eventhough she did not married my father in this country. I dont want her to touch my father inheritance a single share, but im willing to share it with my father 3daughthers. What should i do. If you need any info, im willing to give you more. I just want to know, wheatther im rights if i want to do this, or what is the roght thing that im suppose to do, as for now i know im the only son. Unless the name that i saw in syariah law that one of her children is son. If its a son what shoild i do. As now im willing to settle my father whatsoever debts or the thing he need to be done that are left. If nothing is lett after everything, i dont even mind. At least thats the best what i could do for him after not have to able to see him since that 9years old. Please help me go through this.
Assalamu Alaykum.
According to Sharia Law will the only child (daughter) be deprived from right and title over father’s assets if the father dies before the grand father?
Jazak Allah.
Still awaiting advice please.
Anyone got any advice/imformation/direction on the issue I posted (question) about timescales and inheritance. I have asked this question on many forums and never ever had a reply, I contacted the Shariah council of Great Britain and they never even got back to me.
Been searching for this answer for a long time, and dont seem to be getting anywhere, maybe there isnt an answer ( timescales ).
That was a long journey to read. : )
What happened next?
Inheritance timescales.
I have been on many a website and posted this comment, and can not seem to obtain an answer, so I am trying this one to ask this important question about inheritance.
My father passed away 12 months ago, leaving 2 sons and 1 daughter, one son and daughter are very well off and did little for the parents at their time of need. The one son who did lots and is not very well off was shunned by the parents for not doing enough.
Father passed away, and my mother has not distributed the will as yet (12 months has gone by), she is travelling around the world visiting relatives and spending the inheritance.
2 things, 1 is that the debts and money issues of my father need to be paid, and 2. The inheritance (as per Sharia law) needs to be dealt with.
My question (which I have been asking for the past 12 months and nobody seems to know the answer) is:- what is the timescale for sorting out the inheritance (as per Sharia Law), surely someone cant just ‘sit on the issue’, spend all the money and then prior to their death say ‘Ive got £5 left, as I have spent everything, so share it out amongst yourselves’.
My father had a house, and back home he had lots and lots of land, but when asked/questioned about this, it has been denied, when EVERYONE knows what he had?
What are my options and what does the Sharia say ( mostly timescales)
Jazzakallah.
Salaam, is the property in your mother’s name now and the account in her name now? if so than you can’t say father left because its now in her possession and her property she can give it to you upon and after her feath or when ever she is ready so you can’t force her. Yes but anything that your father wanted to pay like debt and other things that needs to be paid by your mother…but don’t accuse your mother going around world i am sure if you had money you would have spent it too may be she is is spending it from her share so never accuse. To resolve problem go to your mother and tell her to give you your legal share according to islam because you have financial difficulties and she refuse tell her its ok Quran is in your home too read it internet is her home too read islamic info on net too and tell you leave it to her to decide if she wants to follow islamic quranic orders ot shyatanic ways…last establish prayers and be patient…Allah will give you reward for it.
From the information I know which may not be not legal or shariah guidance. In Britain mostly the inheritance starts after wife dies, if it was a joint property, that is what is on the will normally, but you need to find out what your father left in the will, if he hasn’t left you anything from his Britain property, you can ask your mother to change it because it is haram or you can ho against it in court .
Regards to property in another country if it is an Islamic country you should be able to ask for it or even go to court and ask for your share.
Very sad news. My dad passed away leaving me out the will and homeless 2. My rapist brother got over a million pounds. When I mentioned Allah the almighty magnificent they said o I don’t really follow that stuff. Ie mocking Allah the almighty magnificent. It’s true. One may do 60 years of worship but on the deathbed they are doing actions of those who are destined for the fire. I forgive my dad but he has done injustice towards me. Especially these brelwi idiots. May Allah the almighty magnificent guide us them ameen and give us a good death ameen
Ahmad Al Attar of Al Attar Properties in Dubai
Ahmad Al Attar of Al Attar Properties in Dubai, did not give any inheritance to his only sister in Dubai after his father passed away. Although he claims to be a good muslim by praying five times a day.
Ahmad Al Attar sister is very poor and Ahmad Al Attar is very rich now with money – pieces of paper.
Mother committed a huge sin in her Will
My Mother twisted my Father a few years ago, prior to his passing, to redo his Will to give the entire inheritance to her with a verbal promise that she would equally divide this among myself (her son) and my sister.
She made the statement that the Government doesn’t recognize Islamic Wills, and would move in and seize the entire assets of the Estate.
I later found out that this was a lie.
After her death, I discovered that 2 years ago, that she changed her Will to leave 75% of the Estate to my sister and only 25% to me.
My sister (not even married) got a huge benefit under the expense of my and my wife and child’s suffering.
It is unfortunate that my sister, has no morals, and is selfish human being, therefore to ask her to do the right thing, she would tell me to go f–k off. Besides having a large inheritance like that has furthert fed into her selfishness.
I’m wondering if there are other’s like me out there who have faced similar issues and hardships from such a terrible thing.
“Inheritance”: Reply to Jalalkhan!
First of all I thank the author for such an informative article. However, when I continued reading and came across what our brother in Islam, Jalalkhan, wrote about his deceased uncle, it hurt me. The Uncle is dead and therefore, cannot defend himself. Yet, there is plenty in Jalalkhan’s story that shids light on the other side of the story. Apparently, his Uncle was so hurt for some reason that he did not want to continue his relationship. I have been helping my siblings and have not received any feellings of being thankful. On the contrary, may Allah guide us all, they would be the happiest to see me and my family in hardship. I have seen it and have even pointed it out to them. It is human nature, sometimes that one cannot change. I accept them as they are and am not denying the relationship, but if I knew what they were, I wouldn’t have helped them. As for the inheritance, praise be to Allah, the Exalted, Who has blessed us with lovely and obedient kids of our own; so I don’t have to worry that the unthankful will inherit whatever we have been blessed with. There is always another side to a story. It is not good to talk about the deceased in such a manner.
@Zara
Zara, you’re brothers and sisters dont have the right to inherit (irth) but they do have the right to be left up to one third of their deceased relative’s estate (wasiyyah) – as long as there is no other bar to this (such as their killing the deceased etc).
But, needless to say, inheritance is a complicated topic – take responsible Islamic legal advice before any real life scenario plays out. May Allah bless your siblings with Islam
mr
It is sad scenario which a sister presents. “Allah has appointed for everyone who has a right what is due to him and no bequest must be made to an heir”. ( thirmidhi), as informed in the article.
May I suggest that you persistently thank Allah ” … and swiftly shall reward those that ( serve us with ) gratitude ” ( 3: 145 )
Do non muslim children also have a right to inherit?
Asalamu alaykum, My brothers and sisters are not Muslims. Does anyone know if they still have a right to inherit?
My entire family was denied inheritance when my uncle passed away but he did tell me that I will cut you all of my wealth for a mistake that my father did to him and therefore,when he did pass away only his adoptive son was given the inheritance and he then gave a certain amount of money not in accordance with the Islamic division ratios but just to shut them up and we were left out as my uncle did not have any children of his own and we were the rightful inheritors together with his two brothers and sister form the same mother and the rest of his half brothers and half sisters did not get anything from his inheritance which until this day makes me bitter towards what he did tell me when he was alive.He used to treat his other adoptive kids with so much love more than he did to us who were his own blood which still makes me feel some kind of animosity towards him even though I had loved him so much when he was alive and when he was bankrupt it was my father’s money and children(i.e.us) labor that brought him back to his feet yet in the end he denied us our inheritance.During the holy month of Ramadhan he would tell his adoptive kids go the to the tailor and get your trousers measured and get your selves shirts and socks and underwear and and even tell them as many as they needed whilst I was there watching and listening to him say that but not to me and I was a kid too and my father was not working and a Parkinson patient and depended on me supporting him.It is still hurting me to see that he denied us our inheritance not that I really need his wealth for Allah has blessed me with children and means to support my family with ease.I still pray for him and give out sadaqat for him at times despite his cutting us off his wealth.The people he loved most are now enjoying what was rightfully ours and do not give a hoot about him.This has been very troubling to me to see that my own blood could do this to us.
Inheritance
My entire family was denied inheritance when my uncle passed away but he did tell me that I will cut you all of my wealth for a mistake that my father did to him and therefore,when he did pass away only his adoptive son was given the inheritance and he then gave a certain amount of money not in accordance with the Islamic division ratios but just to shut them up and we were left out as my uncle did not have any children of his own and we were the rightful inheritors together with his two brothers and sister form the same mother and the rest of his half brothers and half sisters did not get anything from his inheritance which until this day makes me bitter towards what he did tell me when he was alive.He used to treat his other adoptive kids with so much love more than he did to us who were his own blood which still makes me feel some kind of animosity towards him even though I had loved him so much when he was alive and when he was bankrupt it was my father’s money and children(i.e.us) labor that brought him back to his feet yet in the end he denied us our inheritance.During the holy month of Ramadhan he would tell his adoptive kids go the to the tailor and get your trousers measured and get your selves shirts and socks and underwear and and even tell them as many as they needed whilst I was there watching and listening to him say that but not to me and I was a kid too and my father was not working and a Parkinson patient and depended on me supporting him.It is still hurting me to see that he denied us our inheritance not that I really need his wealth for Allah has blessed me with children and means to support my family with ease.I still pray for him and give out sadaqat for him at times despite his cutting us off his wealth.The people he loved most are now enjoying what was rightfully ours and do not give a hoot about him.This has been very troubling to me to see that my own blood could do this to us.
Jazakallah Khair for your thoughts and to sister amina – when I received this article this morning, it felt quite poignant; Masha Allah, I have 3 children of my own now and if I’ve learnt anything as a parent its that with rights come responsibilities.
Allah will never abandon us
Allah will never abandon us so long as we don’t abandon Him. And if we abandon Him through our sins, then Allah loves for us to return to Him no matter how grave the sin and He will never repell our seeking Him and never deprive us of forgiveness if we are sincere.
Sorry to hear that
I am sorry to hear that sister.
At least there is the surety & promise of
recompense and justice in your next life. 🙂
And that one is for eternity.
Was-Salaam
I Love Allah
“Being entitled to inheritance does not come about through servitude to the departed; rather, it is a right that is secured through the existence of a specific relationship with the deceased. A wisdom to affording a legal heir deemed contemptible may be that it might cause a sense of regret in the offender and alter his conduct and outlook. The inheritor might start to supplicate or give charity on behalf of the deceased who will inevitably be in dire need of even a single hasanah (good deed).”
Both the parent and the child need one another but most times we are short sighted and in patient in dealing with one another but Allah knows it all. that even when we sin he does not immediately destroy us He gives us lots of opportunity to come back. this is indeed a Mercy obtainable only from Allah
Inheritance
I would like to thank the noble person who has responded to a much debated topic. I was abondond by my ‘Muslim’ parents from a very young age; they divorced remarried and my father has a step son and 3 more children from his second marriage. He has made it clear that he will not leave anything for either myself or my brother when he has passed on. As for my mother, she has will leave her worldy assests for her brother and his family…