Succession

Introduction:

The concept of Mirath (inheritance) and its rules are discussed in over 35 verses of the Qur'an.
The distribution of a deceased person's property to his or her heirs is known as inheritance or
succession in law. The Shari'ah states that the closest relatives to the deceased, whether by
closeness or by marriage, receive the highest priority in inheriting the deceased's property.
Quran in chapter 4:11 Says, “Be fair to your parents and children, as you do not fully know who
is more beneficial to’’. Allah really is all-knowing and all-powerful.

Estate:

The term "property" has been given a variety of definitions by various scholars. Since Hanafi
scholars believe that contractual rights end at the death of the parties to a contract, they do
not consider such rights to be property. In this way, rights under a contract cannot be passed
through from age to generation. However, there are many who believe that rights under
contracts should be inherited.

Intestate succession:

The laws of intestate succession govern the distribution of an individual's estate in the event of
his or her death without a valid will. Inheritance is a very complex topic in the Qur'an. There
are nine designated heirs in the Qur'an who are considered to be the mandatory sharers. By
doing so, the Qur'an assigns a unique numerical value to each of them. In the Quran, the
following people are designated as heirs:
1) Husband: Qur’anic sharer / primary heir

If one spouse passes away, the other will get the inheritance. If the Wife dies without any direct
offspring, the Husband will get 1/4 of the estate. However, if they do not have any children, the
husband will get 1/2 of the estate. The husband has an inherent right to his share.

1) Wife: Qur’anic sharer /primary heirs

The woman gets a 1/4 of the estate if there are no children; if there are, she receives a 1/8. A
Muslim man may lawfully have up to four wives at once, hence it is possible that each wife will
only get 1/32 of her husband's wealth. Nobody may refuse to give the wife what she deserves.

The husband and wife's share of an estate may remain the same by radd if it is
undersubscribed. Awl may reduce both of their claims if there are too many people competing
for the estate.

2) Father:

Fathers always get wealth. One who reads the Qur'an aloud to a youngster or a grandchild of
their own heritage. To a daughter and an agnatic grandchild, first as Qur'anic sharer and
subsequently as closest residuary. Residuary heirs are those who are not direct children, such
as siblings or cousins.

If the dead leaves behind children or two or more collaterals (i.e. brothers or sisters), the father
will get a 1/6 share. No collaterals or collateral children are allowed. The ancestors and
descendants of the father's family.

3) Mother: Qur’anic sharer

If the dead leaves children or two or more collaterals (i.e. brothers or sisters), the mother will
get a 1/6 share. Without agnatic grandkids or children that number drops to a 1/3. Do not
include anybody other than grandmas.
4) Daughter: Qur’anic sharer in the absence of a son.

If there is only one daughter, she will get 1/2 of the estate; if there are two or more daughters,
they will each receive a share of 2/3 of the inheritance.

5) Uterine brother/ sister:

Finally, if there is just one uterine sibling, that person will get 1/6 of the inheritance. The
uterine siblings who are still alive will share 1/3 of the inheritance between them if there are
two or more of them.

6) Son:

The concept of a residuary heir is historical. He adds his daughter as a co-residuary, thus
doubling her share. Exclude Those who are not the primary heirs, such as the grandpa h.l.s. of
the dead parent or the entitled grandmother, if the parent is deceased.

If a man or woman only has one sibling on their mother's side, that sibling will get 1/6 of the
estate once all legacies and responsibilities are paid without harm to the heirs. If there are two
or more siblings on the mother's side, each will receive 1/3 of the estate.

7) Al-Radd:

If there is anything left over after the shareholders' shares have been assigned and there is no
residuary successor, it goes back to the shareholders. Zaid bin Thabit was of the opinion that
any excess Radd would be donated to the government of the area it was used. Iman Malik
adheres to this perspective.

If a mother and a daughter are the sole heirs, for instance, the 1/6 part the mother receives and
the 3/6 share the daughter receives will not be enough to distribute the whole estate. To do
this, we must convert the fractional component of the basic shares (1/6 and 3/6 in this
example) to a numeric value that represents the aggregate of the individual numerators. The
radd transformation turns the mother's 16 and the daughter's 36 become 1/4 and 34,
respectively.

Example:

As an illustration of the theory of Return (or Radd), consider the following. Imagine someone
has passed away and left behind some possessions. After paying for death fees, debts, and
legacies, the property is split between the deceased's mother and daughter. The mother will
get one-sixth of the property and the daughter will receive one-half. The mother and daughter's
combined property amounts to two-thirds of the whole, hence their possessions make up one
whole. Once the mother and daughter have received their respective shares, the remaining
amount (1/3) will remain.

8) Awl:

Sunni law says that if there are too many Qur'anic successors, all of their parts must be cut. This
is done using the same maths as in radd. This is what the word "awl" means.
Impediments to succession:

Some Islamic scholars say there are six barriers to succession, while others say there are 10.
However, the following are the most significant and widely accepted roadblocks:

A. Homicide

B. Religious The difference

C) Slavery.
Example:

The inheritance of a woman is given to her family after her death. Following the settlement of
all obligations, taxes, and bequests, the deceased woman's husband and full sisters will get
their inheritance. The woman who died is deemed a "Sharer" as she is still alive. The husband
and the two full sisters will each get one-half of the deceased wife's wealth. Total assets (1/2)
plus total sisters' shares (2/3) equals 7/6, which is more than the unity, and so the growth or
all idea is applicable.

Let's assume we need to get all the fractions of Sharers down to the same level. Let's use the
fractions 1/2+2/3 as an example, and 3/6+4/6 as another. We'll use 6 as the common
denominator to simplify the fractions. Let's also maintain individual numerators the same while
bringing down denominators to common denominators by making the denominator equal to
the sum of the numerators. For example, we want our denominator to be equal to 7, since both
numerators are equal to 7. With the use of this principle, we may divide up our assets such that
every one of us has an equal part, or one.

A) Homicide (Al-Qatl):

Islamic scholars are in complete agreement that a murderer should not be allowed to inherit
the victim's wealth. Everyone who knows something about the subject agrees with the
Prophetic tradition that a killer does not inherit. Example: Sayyidina Umar's ruling that a
murderer of his father could not inherit his father's (victim's) property, on the grounds that
allowing such an individual to do so would promote murder. What's more, it seems that the
accused is permitted to gain financially from his criminal activity.

The maxim "the killer shall not inherit" was called into doubt, with some wondering whether it
applied to "Wasiyyah" as well. According to Maliki jurists, if the victim is aware of the act but
chooses not to revoke the will, then we have no right to stop the murderer from carrying it out.
However, Imam Abu-Hanifah claims that he will also apply this limitation to testaments.

The following situations in Qatar do not compromise the ability to inherit:

1) If it's a justifiable murder

2) In the event of a deadly self-defense situation,

But according to Imam Shafi'i, "any kind of homicide whatsoever will prevent mirath," including
justified, legitimate, purposeful, and accidental killing. No one, not even a relative, may inherit
from the deceased.

b. Change of religion:

Mirath may immediately be released from a number of limitations if she converts to a different
religion. A hadith states that "a Muslim cannot inherit an unbeliever, and an unbeliever will not
inherit a believer."

Under the Wasiyyah system, a non-Muslim cannot hold more than one-third of a net estate.

A minority of the Sahabah, including Mu'adh Bin Jabal, holds that a Muslim may inherit from
his non-Muslim relatives but that a non-Muslim may not inherit from his Muslim relatives.

The Quranic guidance on the administration of the Estate of a deceased Muslim:

After the deceased's obligations and other demands have been paid to Allah and His servants
and his will has been carried out, only then may the deceased's estate be given to his heirs in
line with Quranic regulations. There is an explicit verse in the Quran that says: "The distribution
in all cases is after the payment of legacies and debt" (Quran 4:11-12).

Islam's peculiar legal system includes a ban against a person in the "sickness of death," which is
defined as a terminal illness. Legal heirs have started to gain a stake in the decedent's estate,
therefore this rule is in place to preserve their rights.
Since the fundamental criterion in death-sickness is that the individual must die from the
condition, establishing that a person was at any given point in death-sickness is necessarily
retroactive. The patient must have a terminal disease that has lasted for more than a year and
is in the latter stages of life support. A further need of Indian law is must the ill person
subjectively dreads death.

Terminally sick individuals cannot make a gift of more than one-third of their property, in
keeping with the laws governing bequests. Gifts made after death take precedence over
bequests since they are final transactions. Therefore, if a person has already given away one-
third of their inheritance via gifts, insurance, and bequests, the remaining bequest will be null
and void.

It would be considered cruel and unusual punishment if a terminally sick person signed a
contract to sell something for less than it was worth. Like bequests exceeding one-third or
given to heirs, gifts made in death-sickness are not invalid and illegal, but they are supra vires
and may only be implemented with the consent of the rightful heirs.

Wasiyyah: Wills:

The 'wasiyyah or will' cannot be carried out until all last expenditures have been paid and all
debts owed to Allah and other people have been settled. After death, any gift is deemed a
wassiyah by the great majority of Islamic scholars. A wassiyah (a legal document similar to a
will) may only transfer up to one-third of the wealth without the consent of the other
successors.