Division of inheritance among a wife and four paternal cousins

25-4-2013 | 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 cousin from a full paternal uncle) Number 4 -Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit : (A wife) 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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

 

If the deceased did not have heirs except his wife and his four paternal cousins, then the wife will get one-fourth of the inheritance as he has no children. Allaah The Exalted says (what means): {And for the wives is one fourth if you leave no child} [Quran 4:12]

The rest of the estate will be given to the four paternal cousins 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 have been distributed) as the Prophet said: “Give the prescribed share of inheritance to those who are eligible for it and the remainder [of it] is for the nearest male blood relative.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Based on that, the estate should be divided into 16 shares, one-fourth (i.e. 4 shares) of which should be given to the wife, and every paternal cousin will have 3 shares.

Allaah Knows best.