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Fatwa CenterDividing inheritance among a wife, 3 sons and 1 daughter
Question
Assalaamu ‘Alaykum; Please calculate the inheritance according to the following information -Does the deceased have male relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A son) Number 3 (A grandson (from the son)) Number 2 -Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit : (A daughter) Number 1 (A wife) Number 1 - Additional information : Our father had two wives, (one deceased), after that married second. There are two children from first wife(deceased)-Elder is Son, and younger daughter From second wife, now two sons,of them I am elder and another younger. All four children are married. Before going to the Hajj, he announced that the property to be divided between second wife's sons when being distributed, and one lakh to be given to Eldest son (from first wife). He didn't refer anything to daughter. There is no written Will. What our mother should do? History of children: First son has a married daughter, and son. Only daughter has four married daughters. Second son has a son Third son has a daughter. How the property can be distributed,please guide.
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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
If the heirs are only those mentioned in the question, then the wife gets one-eighth of the estate as her legal share due to the existence of the deceased's children (direct heirs). Allaah says (what means): {...But if you leave a child, then for them [i.e. the wives] is an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you [may have] made or debt...} [Quran 4:12]
The remainder should be divided among the sons and the daughter by Ta’seeb (by virtue of having a paternal relation with the deceased and not having an allotted share, so they get what is left after the allotted shares are distributed), with the male being entitled to twice the share of the female as Allaah says (what means): {Allaah instructs you concerning your children [i.e. their portions of inheritance]: for the male, what is equal to the share of two females...}[Quran 4:11]
However, the two sons of the son [grandchildren] do not get anything from the inheritance because they are prevented by the existence of the sons.
Therefore, the inheritance should be divided into 8 shares. The wife gets one-eighth, which is 1 share, each son gets 2 shares, and the daughter gets 1 share.
As regards what the deceased bequested regarding the division of his inheritance to the two children from his second wife only, or allotting a specific amount to the son, then, by doing this, the deceased has made a bequest for an heir [which is forbidden and void]. Moreover, such a bequest involves a form of favoring one child over others [which is also forbidden]. Thus, such a bequest is not taken into account unless all the heirs approve of it, and also, the daughter is not prevented from the inheritance due to such a bequest, as it is not permissible for a Muslim to prevent one of his heirs from his/her legal share in the inheritance which Allaah has allocated for him/her in His Book and on the tongue of His Prophet 
; whether the heirs are the children or other relatives.
It is Allaah Himself Who undertook the responsibility of setting the shares of inheritance and He did not leave the matter to anyone of His Creation. After clarifying the division of inheritance in details, Allaah says (what means): {These are the limits [set by] Allaah, and whoever obeys Allaah and His Messenger will be admitted by Him to gardens [in Paradise] under which rivers flow, abiding eternally therein; and that is the great attainment. And whoever disobeys Allaah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits - He will put him into the Fire to abide eternally therein, and he will have a humiliating punishment.} [Quran 4:13-14]
Furthermore, the Prophet said: “Verily, Allaah has given every person his due right.” [Abu Daawood, At-Tirmithi, An-Nassaa’i and Ibn Maajah]
Finally, it should be noted that the matter of inheritance is very complex an issue, so a mere Fatwa which is an answer issued according to a question is not enough. Rather, the matter should be referred to an Islamic court to look into the case and investigate, as there might be an heir who would not be known except after investigation, and there might also be a will, debts, or other dues that are not known to the heirs. It is known that these rights come in priority over the right of the heirs in the inheritance. Therefore, the inheritance should not be divided without resorting to an Islamic court, if any, in order to fulfill the interests of both the living and the dead.
Allaah Knows best.
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