Will an estranged daughter inherit from her father?
Question
Title: will the daughter be entitled to a share in the inheritance? as salaam u alaikum Mr abdullah passed away at age of 70. he was married at 30 years of age and had a daughter. when the daughter was two months of age, her mother(his wife) left him(talaq) and took away the daughter with her . since then ... till his death, his daughter neither met him nor took any care of him nor cared to have any relation with him . now he has passed away leaving two sisters, one nephew(brothers son) and this estranged daughter who was taken away when she was two months old. my question is ..... 1) will this daughter have any share in his property(as she didn have anything to do with him in his lifetime) ??? 2)how should his property now be divided?? kindly help me out jazakallah khair (I had asked this question on 23/8/18. As it was not replied to yet.... I am asking it again)
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
(1) In principle, a child will always inherit from his/her parents. This is clearly understood from the Qur’an. The share of inheritance of an heir is decided and decreed by Allah. An heir becomes the owner of his/her share upon the demise of the family member.
Accordingly, the daughter is entitled to the inheritance from her father’s estate. Being estranged does not deprived her of inheritance. [1]
(2) According to the Shariah Law of Succession and Inheritance, distribution of an estate will only commence after funeral expenses, which should not be extravagant nor miserly. Thereafter all debts (including legal costs) and bequests (if any) made to non-heirs - which will not exceed one-third (1/3) of the Estate should be paid. Thereafter, all assets form part of the Net Estate and will be distributed according to the Islamic Law of Succession and Inheritance.
We have been advised that a man passes away and is survived by:
Daughter
Two sisters
Nephew (brother’s son)
According to the Shariah laws of Inheritance and Succession, if there are no other heirs besides the above, then the estate will be divided into 4 equal shares as follows:
BENEFECIARIES
SHARES
PERCENTAGE
DAUGHTER
2
50%
SISTER (1)
1
25%
SISTER (2)
1
25%
NEPHEW
NIL
NIL
TOTAL
4
100%
Daughter will inherit two shares.
Each sister will inherit one share each.
The Nephew will not inherit any share.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Muhammad I.V Patel
Student Darul Iftaa
Lusaka, Zambia
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
References (Arabic / Urdu sources)
[1] الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (6/ 758)
والثالث إما اختياري وهو الوصية أو اضطراري وهو الميراث وسمي فرائض لأن الله تعالى قسمه بنفسه وأوضحه وضوح النهار بشمسه ولذا سماه -صلى الله عليه وسلم -نصف العلم لثبوته بالنص لا غير
الفتاوى الهندية -ط. دار الفكر (4/ 391)
وَإِنْ كان في وَلَدِهِ فَاسِقٌ لَا يَنْبَغِي أَنْ يُعْطِيَهُ أَكْثَرَ من قُوتِهِ كَيْ لَا يَصِيرَ مُعِينًا له في الْمَعْصِيَةِ كَذَا في خِزَانَةِ الْمُفْتِينَ وَلَوْ كان وَلَدُهُ فَاسِقًا وَأَرَادَ أَنْ يَصْرِفَ مَالَهُ إلَى وُجُوهِ الْخَيْرِ وَيُحْرِمَهُ عن الْمِيرَاثِ هذا خَيْرٌ من تَرْكِهِ كَذَا في الْخُلَاصَةِ
تبيين الحقائق شرح كنز الدقائق وحاشية الشلبي (6/ 229)
وَهَذَا الْعِلْمُ مُخْتَصٌّ بِحَالَةِ الْمَمَاتِ وَغَيْرُهُ بِالْحَيَاةِ أَوْ بِاعْتِبَارِ أَسْبَابِ الْمِلْكِ فَإِنَّهَا جَبْرِيَّةٌ أَوْ اخْتِيَارِيَّةٌ فَالْأَوَّلُ الْمِيرَاثُ، وَالثَّانِي غَيْرُهُ مِنْ أَسْبَابِ الْمِلْكِ قَالَ -رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ - (يَبْدَأُ مِنْ تَرِكَةِ الْمَيِّتِ بِتَجْهِيزِهِ)
قره عين الأخيار لتكملة رد المحتار على الدر المختار (8/ 116)
الارث جبري لَا يسْقط بالإسقاط
کتاب النو ازل جلد18 صفحہ226/215/54
- Answered by
- Muhammad I.V Patel
- Checked & approved by
- Mufti Ebrahim Desai
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