Islam for Muslims

• THE FAITH OF MUSLIMS
• 1 Meaning & Importance of Faith (Iman)
• 2 Some Signs of Ideal Faith
• 3 God As The Unique and Supreme being
• 4 God as the All-Powerful
• 5 God’s Power in Shaping Destiny
• 6 God as the Creator
• 7 God as the Merciful
• 8 God as the Protector
• 9 God as the all-knowing
• 10 God as the Guide
• 11 God as the Judge
• 12 The Prophets in the Quran
• 13 Mohammad (pbuh) as the Final Prophet
• 14 Divine Books, Angels & Jinns
• 15 Various Stages of Life after Death
• GOOD DEEDS IN PERSONAL LIFE
• 16 Importance & Types of Good Deeds: Importance & Types of Good Deeds
• 17 Some Ideal Signs of Good Deeds
• 18 God at the Center of Religious Universe
• 19 Sources of Islamic Laws (Sharia)
• 20 Purification & Preparation for Prayer
• 21 The Essentials of Prayer (Salat)
• 22 The Essentials of Charity (Zakat, Fitr and Qurbani)
• 23 The Essentials of Fasting (Siam)
• 24 The Essentials of Pilgrimage (Hajj)
• 25 The Essentials of Knowledge (Ilm)
• 26 The Essentials of Inheritance (Faraiz)
• 27 The Essentials of Halal Income
• 28 The Essentials of Halal Food
• 29 The Essentials of Modest Dress & Behavior
• 30 The Essentials of Marriage & Divorce
• 31 The Essentials of Death & Funeral
• 32 Optional but Valuable Deeds
• 33 Avoiding Personal Sins: Why & How?
• 34 Fighting Satan (Devil) to Avoid Sins
• 35 Five Major Sin Packages
• GOOD DEEDS IN SOCIAL LIFE
• 36 The Importance of Preaching & Good Advice
• 37 The Techniques of Preaching & Good Advice
• 38 The Roles of Family & Parents
• 39 The Roles of Schools & Students
• 40 The Roles of Mosques & Muslims
• 41 The Roles of Print and Social Media
• 42 The Importance of Resisting Social Sins
• 43 The Techniques of Resisting Social Sins
• 44 Observing Islam in a Non-Muslim Environment
• 45 Islamic Governance: Legality, Potentials & Problems
• 46 Criminal Justice System for the Muslims
• 47 The Ideal Qualities of a Muslim: Piety & Proficiency
• 48 The Unity among the Muslims: Why & How?
• 49 The key to progress and prosperity of muslims
• 50 Final Appeal to the Muslims

26: THE ESSENTIALS OF INHERITANCE LAW (FARAIZ)

Introduction: Sharing out the property of the deceased among his inheritors in observance of Islamic inheritance code is a binding obligation for the Muslims. Both men and women have a “definite share to whatever property (large or small) is left behind by parents and nearest relatives” (4:7). The Merciful God introduced the inheritance law in order to ensure that you do not leave behind a “helpless family” (4:9) and dependants following your death.
Importance:  The above ‘faraiz’ law for making your nearest ones the owners of your inheritable assets is a Quranic mandate that you must comply with under threat of “hellfire” (4:14). By contrast, your compliance with the inheritance law meets the prospect of heavenly reward of “gardens with rivers flowing beneath” (4:13).

Violation: Many people, however, show little regard for this benevolent law when it comes to application. Many parents, for example, show bias for a particular child, say youngest or eldest son, when handing out their wealth. Likewise, many brothers tend to deprive their sisters of their rightful claim on inheritance or pack them off with a nominal payment. This type of actions draws rebuke: “You devour inheritance all with greed and you love wealth with excessive love” (89:19/20).  As a Muslim, you therefore must try your best to perfectly comply with the rules of ‘faraiz’.

Some Basic Principles about Inheritance:

(1) Residual Payment: Distribution of wealth among the inheritors is due as a residual after “payment of legacies and debts” (4:11) is made in the following order of priority: (i) funeral expenses for the deceased (ii) repayment of loan made by the deceased (iii) ‘will’ for bequests made by the deceased. From remainder assets, the legal heirs will receive as per “settled portions ordained by God” (4:11).

(2) Bequests: Bequests or legacy of gift is optional but once it is done, you cannot change it without good reason(s) (2:181/182). Bequest cannot exceed one-third of total inheritable property even if you ardently desire to spend more for your pet projects like building mosques etc. Another condition of bequest is that your legal inheritors like children or parents etc. are off-limits to this. One good occasion for bequest is when grandfather makes it to his grandchildren when his son (father of grandchildren) dies while he is still alive and therefore grandchildren lost entitlement to his property.

(3) Definition of Properties: Inheritable estates include properties (“be it small or large”: 4:7), that are movable or immovable, under single or joint ownership including lands, bank deposits etc.  

(4) Parents: The father and mother will each receive one-sixth of the estate, if the deceased left children (son or daughter) (4:11). If the deceased left behind neither children nor spouse and the parents are the (only) heirs, the mother will get 1/3rd and the father will get the remainder 2/3rd  (4:11). If the deceased left siblings, the mother will get 1/6th (4:11).

(5) Wife: If the deceased husband leaves behind children, the wife will receive 1/8th and otherwise she will receive 1/4th (4:12).

(6) Husband: If the deceased wife has any children, the husband will receive 1/4th and otherwise, he will receive ½ shares (4:12).

(7) Daughter(s) & No Son(s): If the deceased has only one daughter and no sons, she receives ½. If daughters number more than one but no sons, then all daughters combined will get 2/3rd (4:11). The remaining share will go to other rightful heirs of inheritance like parents and surviving spouse.

(8) Daughters & Sons: In case the deceased leaves behind both daughters and sons, “the share of sons will be equal to that of 2 daughters” (4:11). In other words, daughters are entitled to 50% of the sons’ share. This is a fair decision of God because (i) daughters are legally maintained respectively by their husbands after marriage and fathers before marriage and (ii) the females legally inherit properties from more relatives than the males. To be specific, out of 12 inheritors listed in Islam, 8 belong to the females.

(9) Siblings: The brothers and sisters of the deceased will not inherit anything if the deceased leaves behind children.  If a deceased man left neither ascendants (like parents, grandparents) nor descendants (children or grandchildren) but leaves a sister but no child, then she shall have half the inheritance (4:176). If such deceased were a woman with no child, her brother takes her inheritance (4:176). If there are two sisters, they shall have two-thirds of the inheritance shared between them (4:176). If there are brothers and sisters, they share “at the rate of the male having twice the share of the female” (4:176) . If the man or woman has left neither ascendants nor descendants but has left a brother or a sister, each one of the two gets a sixth; but if they are more than two, they share in a third of the property of the deceased (4:12).

 (10) Deprivation: Inheritance rights will be lost to murder crime or rejection of Islam.
Your Duties: In order to know about inheritance, you should go through the details of relevant contents presented in the Quran (4:7-12; 4:176) and other Islamic books. For any clarification or further information, you should consult well-informed local Imams, Islamic scholars or Muslim attorneys to avoid any mistakes that could have terrible consequences. As an owner of inheritable assets, you should be well-informed about how heritance laws apply to your specific situation. This knowledge was symbolically assessed by the Prophet as “the half of Islamic knowledge” to highlight the utmost significance of inheritance law.

Next, you should move forward to translate your knowledge into action. During your lifetime, particularly “when death approaches you” you will make a written document (and preserve) on inheritable shares in presence of reliable witnesses who also need to “swear by God” (5:106). This is important so that any powerful inheritors cannot grab more than legal shares, taking advantage of your death or any unfavorable law of the land.  At the same time, you also may keep provision for real transfer of estates taking effect after your death. Otherwise, if you virtually hand over entire possession well before your very last day, then the risk is quite real that you may not get any help from any beneficiaries during your difficult days of old age.

Conclusion: The inheritance law of Islam is designed to ensure fair sharing of property left behind by the deceased among the legal inheritors and thereby place collective wellbeing in front of individual interest.