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 1 (A full brother) Number 1 -Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A mother [of the deceased]) (A daughter) Number 2 (A wife) Number 1 (A full sister) Number 1 -The will which the deceased left behind and that is related to his inheritance is: The spouse has changed the ownership of the house to her name while the husband is still alive. We all live in Canada. The will grants the whole inheritance to the wife, who is the mother of my three children (one son and two daughters). If the mother does not survive me, then all my possessions go to my three children in equal shares. My question is the following: Should we change the will to make the son's share twice the daughter's share. I have a chronic disease, and I would like the leave this world with a will conform to the sharia and Allaah's law of our world. Knowing that the children, both male and female, have to work nowadays and that even if they marry both partners have to contribute to the family income, should I change the will? Thank you for your answer and efforts to help the people.

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 is His slave and Messenger.

The will mentioned in the question combines both undutifulness to the parents and injustice, and it is a will made in favor of an heir; verily, all three actions are prohibited. It involves undutifulness because it denies the deceased’s mother her due share in the inheritance. Evil is the man who favors his wife and children over his mother!

As for being a will in favor of an heir, there are two possible scenarios for transferring the ownership of the husband’s house to his wife in his life:

Firstly, that he intended for his wife to take possession of the house and obtain full ownership of it, entitling her to sell it or rent it out or dispose of it freely during his life. If this is the case, then it is considered a gift from the husband to his wife and not a will. In this case, the husband’s health condition when the gift was offered should be investigated; if he was fatally ill and his death was feared, then this 'gift' is legally a will because a gift offered in such a fatal illness is considered a will, and the religious rulings pertaining to wills apply to it. Ibn Qudaamah said, "Gifts offered during the illness in which death is feared have the same legal status as the will." It is prohibited to make a will in favor of an heir as Muslim scholars stated based on the the hadeeth that reads, "There is no will for an heir."

Sharh Muntaha Al-Iraadaat reads:

"If a testator has other heirs besides a husband or wife, then It is impermissible for him/her to make a will in favor of an heir or beyond one-third of the estate to a non-heir, according to the opinion reported on the authority of Imaam Ahmad, whether the will has been made during the testator’s illness or in a state of perfect health. The will made in favor of an heir is prohibited because of the hadeeth that reads, 'Allaah has given each person who has rights his rights, so there is no will for in heir.' [Abu Daawood, At-Tirmithi, Ibn Maajah and Ahmad] The hadeeth was reported by Abu Daawood and At-Tirmithi on the authority of ʻAmr ibn Khaarijah and was narrated by Ibn Maajah on the authority of Abu Umaamah Al-Baahili. It should be noted that such a prohibited will would be valid if the other heirs were to give their consent, as evidenced by the marfooʻ hadeeth narrated by Ibn ʻAbbaas that reads, 'A will is not lawful for an heir unless the other heirs give consent.' [Ad-Daaraqutniʻ] Moreover, it has been narrated on the authority of ʻAmr ibn Shuʻayb, who narrated from his father, from his grandfather, that the Prophet said, 'There is no will made in favor of an heir unless approved by the other heirs. [Ad-Daaraqutniʻ]" [End of quote]

Secondly, that the husband intended to authorize the wife to have full ownership of the house after his death and not during his lifetime; this is a plain will. Such a will is made in favor of an heir, and the above mentioned ruling applies to it. It is prohibited, yet valid, and can be implemented if approved by the other heirs, who have to be of age and in full possession of their mental faculties. If the pubescent and sane heirs give their consent to that will, then it may be executed as far as their shares are concerned, and then the shares of the other heirs who are not pubescent and lack full possession of their mental faculties should be spared.

Such a will also constitutes injustice because it contradicts the justice enjoined by Allaah, Who decreed that the male should be given twice the share of the female in such a case; Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {Allaah instructs you concerning your children: for the male, what is equal to the share of two females...} [Quran 4:11]

Your argument that women in the present-day are required to work, earn a living, and contribute to the household expenses, even if accepted to be true, does not justify going against the commands of Allaah. Moreover, when the woman gets married, she is not obliged to work or provide for herself or anyone else as per the sharee'ah. Rather, the husband is religiously obliged to provide for his wife and family.

In brief, your will is contrary to the sharee'ah, and you are obliged to cancel it; you should fear Allaah, The Exalted, and refrain from favoring your wife and children over your mother.

Finally, if a deceased left behind a mother, wife, children (both sons and daughters), a sister and a brother, then the eligible heirs who are entitled to inherit from him are his wife, mother, and children only. The deceased’s siblings are excluded in this case. In this case, the mother is entitled to one-sixth of the estate as a fixed share, the wife gets one-eighth of the estate as a fixed share, and the residue of the estate should be divided by virtue of taʻseeb (i.e. on account of having a paternal relation with the deceased and not having an allotted share, so they get what is left after the allotted shares have been distributed) among the deceased's children; the male gets double the share of the female.

Allaah knows best.