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Inheritance in Islam*
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By
`Abdul Hamid Siddiqui
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August
16, 2005
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Inheritance
is when living persons rightfully acquire dead persons’ property. It
exists in some form wherever the institution of private property is
recognized as the basis of the social and economic system. The actual
forms of inheritance and the laws governing them, however, differ
according to the ideals of different societies. The law of inheritance
in Islam is based upon five main considerations:
1-
To break up the concentration of wealth from the hands of few
individuals and to spread it out in society.
2-
To respect right of individual ownership and property earned through
honest means.
3-
To drive into people’s consciousness the fact that they are not
the absolute masters of the wealth they produce but they are only
trustees and are not, therefore, authorized to pass this wealth on
to others as they like.
4-
To consolidate the family system, which is the social unit of an
Islamic society.
5-
To give incentive to work and encourage economic activity as
sanctioned by Islam.
In
the pre-Islamic world and even in modern societies, the laws of
inheritance have so many evils inherent in them, which may be summed
up in the following points:
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Women
had been completely denied a share of inheritance; they were,
rather, regarded as part of the property of the deceased and,
therefore, their right to inherited property was out of question.
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In
pre-Islamic Arabia, and other countries where there had been
tribal societies, not only were women deprived of the right of
inheritance but even weak and sick persons and minors (children)
were given no share in the inheritance. The common principle of
inheritance was that “he alone is entitled to inherit who wields
the sword.”
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Then,
in certain societies, there was in existence the law of
primogeniture, which exists even today in some of the so-called
civilized parts of the world and entitles only the eldest son to
inherit the whole of the father's property or at least to get the
lion's share.
Islam
introduced so many reforms in the laws of inheritance and they can be
succinctly summed up as follows.
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Islam
defined and determined in clear-cut terms the share of each
inheritor and it imposed limits on the right of the property owner
to dispose of his property according to his whims and caprices.
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Islam
made the female—who had been previously thought of as a
chattel—the co-sharer with the male; thus, not only restoring
her dignity, but safeguarding her social and economic rights.
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Islam
laid the rules for the breakup of concentrated wealth in society
and helped in its proper and equitable distribution amongst a
large number of persons.
-
Islam
gave a death blow to the law of primogeniture and provided a fair
basis for the division of the deceased’s property.
The
above are some of the distinguishing features of the Islamic law of
inheritance. While laying down the rules for the distribution of the
deceased’s estate, the first principle to be observed is that the
property, both movable and immovable, can be distributed after meeting
the following obligations:
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Funeral
expenses
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Clearing
of any debts incurred by the deceased
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Payment
of bequests, if any, to the extent of one-third of the total
assets. It should be remembered that the wife’s mahr
(dowry), if it had not been paid, must be included in the debt.
Moreover, it is not lawful to make a bequest in favor of a person
who is entitled to a share in the inheritance.
In
this way, the rights of all the parties concerned are preserved. The
deceased receives due tribute and honor by giving priority to his
funeral expenses; besides, the debtors’ rights will not be absolved
by the passing away of the deceased; only then will the remaining
property be distributed among the heirs fairly, without any
interference and without preference of one party over another by the
deceased.
Related
links:
Listen
to Dr. Jamal Badawi on inheritance:
* The
article is part of the author’s introduction to the Chapter on
inheritance, Translation of Sahih Muslim, here cited, with some
modifications, from:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/011.smt.html
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