Inheritance among four wives, seven sons and four daughters
17-3-2016 | 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 son) Number 7 (A full brother) Number 3 - Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A daughter) Number 4 (A wife) Number 4 (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 the four wives get one-eighth altogether which they divide between them equally due to the existence of direct heirs (children); Allaah says (what means): {But if you leave a child, then for them [i.e. the wives] is an eighth of what you leave} [Quran 4:12]
The remainder of the inheritance after the share of the wives will be divided among the sons and the daughters 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); the male gets 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]
Therefore, the inheritance should be divided into 288 shares; the four wives get one-eighth, which is 36 shares, so each wife gets 9 shares; each son gets 28 shares; and each daughter gets 14 shares.
The full-brothers and the full-sister do not get anything from the inheritance because they are prevented by the existence of the sons.
Finally, it should be noted that the matter of inheritance is a very complex issue, so a mere fatwa, which is an answer issued according to the 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 take priority over the rights of the heirs in the inheritance. Therefore, the inheritance should not be divided without resorting to an Islamic court, if any is available, in order to fulfill the interests of both the dead and the living.
Allaah knows best.