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Division of inheritance among a wife, a daughter and 3 full sisters

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 (A full sister) Number 3

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, is His slave and Messenger.

If the heirs are only those mentioned in the question, then the inheritance should be divided as follows:

The daughter of the deceased gets a half of the inheritance 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]

His wife gets one-eighth as her legal share due to the existence of children (the daughter); 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]

The remainder will be divided amongst the sisters by Ta’seeb (by virtue of having a paternal relation with the deceased and not having an allotted share, so they get what is left after the allotted shares have been distributed). This is because the sisters are considered as heirs by Ta'seeb along with the daughters.

Therefore, the inheritance should be divided into 8 shares, the daughter gets a half which is 4 shares, the wife gets one-eighth which is one share, and each of the three sisters gets one share.

It should be noted that the matter of inheritance is a serious and complex issue, so a mere Fatwa issued in answer to an online question is not enough. Rather, the matter should be taken to an Islamic court to look into the case and investigate it, as there might be another heir who would not be known except after investigation, and there might also be a will, debts, or other dues that are not known to the heirs. It is known that these rights come in priority over the right of the heirs in the inheritance. Therefore, the inheritance should not be divided without resorting to an Islamic court, if available, in order to fulfill the interests of the living and the dead.

Allaah Knows best.

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