Bismillahi , WalHamdulillah , WasSalaatu wasSalaamu alaa Rasoolillah,
I am creating this thread with an intention to educate myself and other brothers and sisters in Islam on this sensitive topic of Inheritance in Islam. I will try to provide references to everything I quote specifically to the basis of rulings ( In Sha'a Allah), and if I make any mistakes please correct me.
When it comes to inheritance distribution, I have seen that this is something many Muslims don't practice. Often times, we end up giving preference to cultural traditions and customs and teachings of Islam are ignored. This is true in many cases but inheritance is more important because it directly relates to dealing with rights of our close relatives. For example, it is common that married couples write their will in a way which dictates giving everything to the surviving spouse after death when there are other beneficiaries. While it is assumed the surviving spouse will take care of the children with what he/she gets, this is not necessarily the case. The survivor may (and if it is a male, will likely quickly) get married. If the survivor also dies, the new spouse may be the beneficiary, accidentally disinheriting the children. The surviving spouse can also be sued or go through a financial calamity such as endure bankruptcy. Unfortunately, people unwittingly organize assets in a way that causes injustices upon death. Part of Islamic Inheritance is an awareness of how you own your wealth & hence seeking knowledge of inheritance law is important. In a hadith ( which is classified as weak due to its chain not due to its matan), Prophet (peace be upon him) encouraged to learn about the knowledge Inheritance and called it half of the knowledge ( the hadith is quoted below):
It is so true that knowledge of inheritance has been taken as we see that many Muslims even in Muslim majority countries have absolute no knowledge how inheritance system works. In most cases, either inheritance in never divided or is divided among male heirs unjustly or deceased will deprive off his/her heirs which he/she has no right to do with exception of only few cases. As a result, people keep resentments and ties of kinship are broken. If we only submit to Allah's commandments then perhaps we can end up fixing many issues in our society.
In another hadith, It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
This is very scary warning. Imagine someone praying, fasting and doing everything right but ends up doing injustice when righting his/her will and thus entering into hell fire? Ignorance can't be an excuse for this action. We need to learn how inheritance system works in Islam and need to make sure we only do what Allah has commanded us to do. In Islam, inheritance goes to your son, your daughter, your husband, wife, parents and maybe others. This is not because you like them, you love them, they return your phone calls and so forth. They get inheritance because the Quran ordains they receive the specific inheritance they have a right to. This protects society and helps to keep the family ties.
At this point it is also important to know deep down that everything belong to Allah and this includes even our wealth. We need to understand that Allah is The Most Wise (Al-Hakeem), The Most Kind/compassionate/Merciful (Al-Rahman) and The Most Loving (Al-Wadud) and He is the only one who can truly do the justice. So even if the laws of inheritance may not makes sense to someone, we should know that these laws are given by The Most Wise (Al-Hakeem).
Our creator knows that we are weak and it is His Mercy that He guides us to what is the best for us in this world and Hereafter. It is part of His mercy that He has revealed the laws of Inheritance to the Muslims. Let's see what has been revealed by Allah in this regard:
Let me emphasize on few important points:
Allah says that He gives us an advice which will benefit us. And towards the end of the above verse, Allah says that we have no knowledge who can benefit us from our relatives. We don't know who is going to die first and hence may benefit those who he/she will leave behind with his/her wealth. And it is only Allah who knows everything and who is The Most Wise. We can listen to the advise given by doctors because he know he has more knowledge in his field that us and we know whatever the doctor recommends is for our benefit. Why is then the case that we don't pay attention to the advice given by our Creator?
Let's look at the next verses:
I hope this highlights the importance of this important topic.
I am creating this thread with an intention to educate myself and other brothers and sisters in Islam on this sensitive topic of Inheritance in Islam. I will try to provide references to everything I quote specifically to the basis of rulings ( In Sha'a Allah), and if I make any mistakes please correct me.
When it comes to inheritance distribution, I have seen that this is something many Muslims don't practice. Often times, we end up giving preference to cultural traditions and customs and teachings of Islam are ignored. This is true in many cases but inheritance is more important because it directly relates to dealing with rights of our close relatives. For example, it is common that married couples write their will in a way which dictates giving everything to the surviving spouse after death when there are other beneficiaries. While it is assumed the surviving spouse will take care of the children with what he/she gets, this is not necessarily the case. The survivor may (and if it is a male, will likely quickly) get married. If the survivor also dies, the new spouse may be the beneficiary, accidentally disinheriting the children. The surviving spouse can also be sued or go through a financial calamity such as endure bankruptcy. Unfortunately, people unwittingly organize assets in a way that causes injustices upon death. Part of Islamic Inheritance is an awareness of how you own your wealth & hence seeking knowledge of inheritance law is important. In a hadith ( which is classified as weak due to its chain not due to its matan), Prophet (peace be upon him) encouraged to learn about the knowledge Inheritance and called it half of the knowledge ( the hadith is quoted below):
It is so true that knowledge of inheritance has been taken as we see that many Muslims even in Muslim majority countries have absolute no knowledge how inheritance system works. In most cases, either inheritance in never divided or is divided among male heirs unjustly or deceased will deprive off his/her heirs which he/she has no right to do with exception of only few cases. As a result, people keep resentments and ties of kinship are broken. If we only submit to Allah's commandments then perhaps we can end up fixing many issues in our society.
In another hadith, It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
This is very scary warning. Imagine someone praying, fasting and doing everything right but ends up doing injustice when righting his/her will and thus entering into hell fire? Ignorance can't be an excuse for this action. We need to learn how inheritance system works in Islam and need to make sure we only do what Allah has commanded us to do. In Islam, inheritance goes to your son, your daughter, your husband, wife, parents and maybe others. This is not because you like them, you love them, they return your phone calls and so forth. They get inheritance because the Quran ordains they receive the specific inheritance they have a right to. This protects society and helps to keep the family ties.
At this point it is also important to know deep down that everything belong to Allah and this includes even our wealth. We need to understand that Allah is The Most Wise (Al-Hakeem), The Most Kind/compassionate/Merciful (Al-Rahman) and The Most Loving (Al-Wadud) and He is the only one who can truly do the justice. So even if the laws of inheritance may not makes sense to someone, we should know that these laws are given by The Most Wise (Al-Hakeem).
Allah says in the Quran:
Our creator knows that we are weak and it is His Mercy that He guides us to what is the best for us in this world and Hereafter. It is part of His mercy that He has revealed the laws of Inheritance to the Muslims. Let's see what has been revealed by Allah in this regard:
Let me emphasize on few important points:
Allah says that He gives us an advice which will benefit us. And towards the end of the above verse, Allah says that we have no knowledge who can benefit us from our relatives. We don't know who is going to die first and hence may benefit those who he/she will leave behind with his/her wealth. And it is only Allah who knows everything and who is The Most Wise. We can listen to the advise given by doctors because he know he has more knowledge in his field that us and we know whatever the doctor recommends is for our benefit. Why is then the case that we don't pay attention to the advice given by our Creator?
Let's look at the next verses:
Allah says that these are the limits established by Allah. Often times Hadud are mentioned for major sins and when Allah mentions His Hadud (limits/boundaries) then it is usually followed up with a punishment. And in this case, there is a glad tiding for those who act upon these commandments of Allah and a warning of severe punishment by Allah in the Hereafter. Allah describes that true success is in obedience to Allah and His messenger, it is not in getting more wealth and unjustly taking rights of others. This is almost the same message which is mentioned in the last hadith I quoted above.
I hope this highlights the importance of this important topic.
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