Division of inheritance among a father and a wife

10-4-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu ‘Alaykum; Please calculate the inheritance according to the following information -Does the deceased have male relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A father) (A full brother) Number 1 -Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit : (A wife) Number 1 (A full sister) Number 1

---

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 is His slave and Messenger.

If the heirs are only those mentioned in the question, and the deceased did not leave any other heir, then his wife gets one-fourth as her legal share due to the non-existence of children; Allaah says (what means): {And for them [i.e. the wives] is one fourth if you leave no child.} [Quran 4:12]

The remainder will be taken by the father by Ta’seeb (by virtue of having a paternal relation with the deceased and not having an allotted share, so he gets what is left after the allotted shares have been distributed.)

The brother and the sister do are not entitled to any of the inheritance due to the existence of the father.

Please note that the matter of inheritance is a very complex issue, so a mere Fatwa which is an answer issued according to a received question is not enough. Rather, the matter should be taken to an Islamic court to look into the case and investigate, as it might be that there is 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 available, in order to fulfill the interests of the dead and the living.

Allaah Knows best.