Division of inheritance among a wife and full siblings
14-8-2015 | 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 full brother) Number 1 (A half brother (from his father)) Number 1 (A nephew from a full brother) Number 5 (A nephew from a half brother (from his father)) Number 4 (A cousin from a full paternal uncle) Number 2 -Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit : (A wife) Number 1 (A full sister) Number 5
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, and the deceased did not leave any other heir, then the wife gets one-fourth as her legal share because the deceased did not leave any children; Allaah says (what means): {And for them [the wives] is one fourth if you leave no child.} [Quran 4:12]
The remainder will be given to the full-brother and the full-sisters 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), with the male receiving twice the share of the female.
Therefore, the inheritance should be divided into 28 shares. The wife gets one-fourth, which is 7 shares, the full-brother gets 6 shares, and each full-sister gets 3 shares.
However, the rest of the relatives of the deceased do not get any of the inheritance because they are prevented by the existence of the full-brother and the full-sisters.
It should be noted that the division of inheritance is a serious and complex matter. It does not suffice to settle for a Fatwa, which is formed based on the information provided by the questioner. Instead, you should refer the case to a legitimate Islamic court for investigation. There may be other heirs who will not be discovered without careful investigation. Moreover, the deceased may have left a will or been liable to debts or other obligations and liabilities which the heirs are not aware of. It is well-known that the settlement of debts and other liabilities are given precedence to the heirs' rights to their shares of the estate. Therefore, you should not divide the estate without referring the case to an Islamic court, if any exists, in order to secure the interests of both the living and the dead.
Allaah Knows best.