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Inheritance of wife and one daughter

Question

Assalaamu ‘Alaykum; Please calculate the inheritance according to the following information ۞-Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit : (A daughter) Number 1 (A wife) 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  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

If the deceased did not leave any other heirs except those mentioned in the question, then his wife gets one-eighth of the inheritance as her legal share due to the existence of the child of the deceased as Allaah Says (what means): {But if you leave a child, then for them [i.e. the wives] is an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you [may have] made or debt.}[Quran 4:12]

His daughter gets a half as her legal share as Allaah Says about the existence of only one daughter (what means): {And if there is only one [daughter], for her is half.}[Quran 4:11]

The remainder should be given back to the daughter for the general meaning of the Hadeeth in which the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said: “…Whoever leaves wealth [after his death], it is for his heirs.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]; but it will not be given back to the wife.

Hence, the inheritance should be divided into 8 shares, the wife gets one-eighth, which is one share as her prescribed share, and the daughter gets 7 shares: 4 shares as her legal share and 3 shares are given back to her as there is no other heir who is eligible to inherit them.

Allaah Knows best.

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