Ahsan Hanif – Quran Tafseer – Page 79 – Inheritance Rules
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The issue of inheritance is a complex issue that is dependent on personal and family history. It is not right to inheriting wealth and anyone with debts or past deaths should be included in the process. It is important to write a will before passing away to avoid legal issues and to ensure proper coverage for anyone with debts or past deaths. The distribution of wealth is based on fixed shares of the spouses, husband, and wife, and it is necessary to read the laws and obey them.
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Muhammad.
Welcome to another episode of tafsir page by
page And InshaAllah Ta'ala today we are on
page number 79,
which is the 3rd page in Surah Al
Nisa
in the 4th juz.
In the previous episode, we mentioned a number
of issues
regarding and relating to the issue of inheritance
and as we said this was one of
those
points or one of those issues and subject
matters which in the time of Arabia or
the Arabs of Jahiliyyah before the coming of
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And to
be very frank even after that time even
until our time today it is an issue
even amongst Muslims
that is still an issue and a great
cause of oppression and injustice.
And that is because many people
don't study and understand how inheritance works under
Islamic law and unfortunately there are some people
who don't really care about how it works,
they will simply want that wealth by hook
or by crook. So we mentioned in the
last episode that Allah Azzawajal said that everyone
has their fair share and right to inheritance
whether you are male or female. If you
are from amongst those relatives, those
close relatives that Allah
has determined has the right to inheritance, then
that right belongs to you.
And we said that those rights of inheritance
doesn't necessarily mean that you will inherit because
that is also dependent upon who else is
living or not at that time. So usually
the people that are closest to the deceased
which are their parents,
spouse and children will always inherit.
And as for everyone else who may inherit
such as siblings,
grandparents,
grandchildren, paternal uncles and so on, those people
may inherit depending upon who else is living
or who is not. In the previous episode
we mentioned the verse, 'but you live in
which Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala spoke to us
and told us concerning
some of those fixtures that we have. The
way that inheritance works is that we have
a group of close relatives
that have a fixed share. These people are
called as habul furook.
Those people who have fixed shares are the
ones that Allah mentions
and that we spoke about in verse number
11 and the first verse that we will
speak about today verse number 12 Such as
for example, the mother,
the daughters,
the maternal brothers, the husband, the wife, these
people have fixed shares
in Islam. Whatever is left after they have
taken their fixed shares is given to the
second group of people who are normally their
male close relatives and these people are called
Asaba.
So the people
who are taking the fixtures are usually female
relatives with a couple of exceptions like the
husband and sometimes the father.
And the people who take what remains
are the Asaba and usually are the male
relatives. So for example, sons and brothers and
uncles like full brothers or brothers that are
paternal brothers and uncles and so on.
Sometimes what remains
is
more and sometimes what remains
is less
and sometimes what remains is nothing. And so
those people just take whatever remains and that
is the prophet told us
that the hadith of Abu Bakr Abbas
give to the fixed share people their shares
and whatever remains then it goes to the
closest male relative.
And so therefore we have the division of
these two categories of relatives,
the people who are fixed shares, who are
usually speaking, the male or female relatives and
then the male relatives and whoever gets it,
they get whatever essentially
remains from that. So sometimes it is more.
So for example, in the case of the
son, he's a male relative, he takes whatever
is remaining And if there are daughters, he
will take more than the daughters because as
we said, he gets double their portion.
However, if it's only a daughter, one daughter
she gets half,
2 or more daughters they get 2 thirds
and so on and so forth.
So here in verse number 12 now Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala
will continue
upon this issue continue with this issue of
of inheritance
and again it is something which we have
to understand
and as we said in the previous episode,
the best and easiest way
is to go and to simply go to
a Muslim imam,
your local scholar imam and so on and
ask them how to do this. A common
mistake that is made unfortunately within our communities
is that we don't
do the due diligence on these issues until
after the death takes place. And then there
is a great deal of
raw emotion
of people being really upset obviously at the
passing of their loved one and what people's
expectations
are rightly or wrongly because that's what they
thought would happen. And then all of a
sudden they're told, no, actually this is what
the Sharia says. Also at the same time,
you have to acknowledge as Muslims living in
the West that the
UK law, for example, or the law of
the US or whichever country you're living in
may not necessarily be the same as Islamic
law. So therefore, a person may go and
dispute that issue if you don't have this
stuff written down as your own will and
so on. So the person when they pass
away should write a will or before they
pass away rather, should always have their will
ready. And within it, they should mention issues
like, for example, the issues concerning their burial
and their funeral
arrangements. They should mention any deaths that they
have there in because that is extremely important.
The Prophet told us
that a person after they pass away, will
be in suspense until
their debts have been paid. And the Prophet
before Janazah was brought out and he learnt
that that person had debts upon them, he
wouldn't lead their janazah and he would tell
the companions to pray over them instead. And
that's because that person is in suspense. Why
are they in suspense?
Because they have taken the rights of others
by borrowing their money and they have yet
to fulfill that right. So those debts have
to be
recorded, have to be written down and known
so that those people can be given their
rights back otherwise that person who has passed
away it continues to be upon them.
Number 3, any bequests that they have. So
they want to give some of their wealth
for charity as we mentioned in the last
episode, they want to give some of it
away in charity, they want to help certain
people, certain organizations, certain causes and so on
especially for those of us that are living
in the west where we don't necessarily have
government support for our institutions,
for our masjids and so on and so
forth. It is it may be that someone
may want to give some of that wealth
to their local masjid, to a Muslim school,
to for example, the orphans that are living
within the community or the widows and so
on and so forth. They want to do
some good and that is something which is
permissible and then they write down the shares
that they have. I know that I have
these children, and I have my wife, and
I have my parents, and my siblings. These
are the people that are living, and these
are the shares that they will have, and
this is how it will be distributed after
I have sought obviously
advice from someone who is qualified. And that
may require a result of updating
as people are born and people pass away
and circumstances
change. And so that is from good practice
that a person should do that so that
they don't leave their
affairs in a mess. That once they pass
away, their family members now have to come
and they have to fight and they have
to battle and they have to argue and
debate and sometimes those issues go to court
and if they don't go to court then
it leads to whole families breaking up. So
that person who passed away left behind wealth
as inheritance
rather than being a mercy as it should
be because people are benefiting from their legacy,
the wealth and the efforts they made in
this life, to help their family members after
they have passed away, and now becomes a
source of tension
and a source of break up in the
family because that wealth that they left behind
is being something which everyone is fighting over.
And also because unfortunately now we live in
unfortunately in the case of of many of
us we are very
very materialistic
and we're very wealth centered.
And so therefore, when we know that for
example, I may or I could receive £10,000
from this person, I will fight over that
money. And if it means that I have
to trample over my own parents, my own
siblings, my own children, I will do so
because that's something which I want.
One of the other things to remember as
we mentioned in the previous episode and again
I want to stress upon this because these,
tafsir classes
are not Fiqh lessons. So we are not
going through all of the laws of inheritance
and so on that would make this discussion
extremely long and it would make it detailed
and this is meant to be a general,
Insha'Allah Ta'al, accessible tafsir for everyone.
But there are a few points that are
important to mention that I just want to
highlight because for many of us, we don't
really study these issues. We don't look into
them. And until the issue arises, because it
is the reality now that we have to
face, most of us don't really do any,
preemptive,
research or seeking knowledge about these issues.
One of the other things that we will,
that we mentioned in the previous episode and
that it is important to to remember again
is the issue of mutual consent.
If all of the heirs
agree upon something, then it is permissible, generally
speaking. So long as obviously they are not
breaking a law from the laws of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. So for example, as we
said in the previous episode,
a person can give up to a third
of their wealth in charity. They can bequeath
it as a Sadaqah for someone as long
as that someone isn't an heir. So I
can't bequeath it to my son because my
son inherits. I can't bequeath it to my
wife because she inherits. I can't bequeath it
to my daughter because they inherit.
However, I have a distant relative
who does not inherit. They are not for
my immediate family and they are poor and
needy and I wish to give them for
example a 5th of my estate to help
them and their affairs and so on. That
is permissible.
However, if I want to give it to
one of those people who do inherit, so
for example, one of my daughters is struggling,
I want to give to a third of
my estate over and above what she will
receive anyway
of her inheritance.
And I gather my family members together, all
of those people that would inherit from me,
and I sit them down and I say,
look, this is your sister
or your daughter or whoever she is in
terms of a relationship to you my daughter
she's like your sister to my other children
and so on. I say this is our
family member she's struggling Allah has blessed you
with wealth the rest of you are fine
you're comfortable but she's struggling she's having a
hard time she needs extra help she needs
extra support So if this is what I
plan to do, what do you think? As
long as they willingly agree because sometimes people
are manipulated into the situation
or forced, That isn't something which should be
done. They are given free consent to say
no, I don't agree. And if they say
no, then so be it. But if they
all agree happily and they say yes, we
are willing to help them and so on,
and this is often the case in families
where these discussions happen beforehand
and people are mature and sensible, people will
often do this. They know that for example,
this person
needs more. They need some extra support, they
need some extra help and so therefore we
will give them that extra help and they
have that reward insha Allah ta'ala from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So mutual consent is something which then allows
people to agree on something which otherwise normally
wouldn't be allowed. And likewise, for example, up
to a third you can give, but if
they agree altogether mutually, then we will give
a half, that's fine. As long as they
agree mutually
and
it is given their full and free and
open consent. Otherwise, the laws of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala are there to be established as
we said in the previous episode that Allah
says that Allah has established these laws for
you because otherwise you wouldn't know who has
more right over you than others. Who has
more rights over you than others. So some
people for example maybe wouldn't give to their
parents anything
because they'd be like oh they're old they
don't really need my help, I want to
give it all to my children.
But Allah Azzawajal said no they have a
right because of their status,
because of what they did for you, because
of their service towards you and when people
get old it doesn't mean that they don't
need money.
Sometimes they need more support because they have
less ability to go out and earn and
to help themselves and to be financially independent
and so on. And so Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala is from his Hikmah
and his wisdom that Allah has given to
all of these people their shares. And Allah
has given to them different shares
depending on their circumstances.
So sometimes the daughter may receive half and
sometimes as we said when she is with
her brother she may receive less
and so this is dependent upon each person
and their shares they may differ as well
concerning or dependent
upon the situation that they find themselves in.
So in
verse number 12 Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala continues
with the fixed shares of other people that
we have yet to mention so far and
that is the statement of Allah
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, you inherit half
of what your wives leave if they have
no children. And if they have children, you
inherit a quarter. In all cases, the distribution
comes after payment of any bequests or debts.
And if you have no children, your wife's
share is a quarter. And if you have
children, your wives get an 8th. In all
cases, the distribution comes after payment of any
bequests or debts. If a man or woman
dies, leaving no children or parents, but a
single brother or sister, he or she should
take 1 sixth of the inheritance. If there
are more siblings, they share 1 third between
them. In all cases, the distribution comes after
payment of any bequests or debts with no
harm done to anyone. This is the commandment
from Allah and indeed Allah is all knowing
and He is all forbearing. Allah
'Azza wa Jal therefore begins this verse number
12 with the fixtures of the spouses,
the husband and the wife. Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala says to the husband,
you have half of what your wives leave
so long as there are no children in
the equation.
Your wife had no children.
If she has a child either from that
husband or a previous husband, then
this existing husband now, the one that she
is currently married to, he gets a quarter.
So if there's no children,
half. And if there are children, quarter. But
again as Allah Azzawajal repeated as we mentioned
in the last verse, verse number 11, Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says once all debts
and all bequests have been fulfilled.
So therefore, the shares of inheritance or the
distribution of the estate in terms of inheritance
is
the last thing that is done once all
of these other rights have been fulfilled. As
we said, for example, the rights of the
funeral
burial, right, the funeral arrangements. That's the first
right that's taken out. The right of debts,
the right of the bequests up to a
third. All of these are fulfilled first and
foremost. Once they have been done, that is
when these shares then come and that is
when they are given. And that's why as
we said last week, if a person doesn't
have a great deal of wealth, it is
not a good thing
or a good practice for them to give
some of their wealth away in charity because
they have very little. As the Prophet said
salallahu alaihi wa sallam to the famous companion
Saad ibn Abi Waqqas radiAllahu an, he said
it is better for you to leave your
your heirs, your children
wealthy
than to leave them poor that they still
have to go and ask from other people.
So someone only has a small amount, give
it to your family rather than giving some
of it in charity and then they have
very little and they still need other people's
support and other people's financial help.
So those are the fixtures of the husband.
When it comes to the wife,
if the husband had no children, so the
wife is now the survivor, the husband passed
away, if the husband has no children, she
gets a quarter. And if he had children,
whether from her or from any other wife,
then she receives an 8th.
And this is irrespective of whether there is
one wife that is currently married to or
more than 1. They would share that particular
or they would take the portion of that
particular share. So it still stays to a
quarter or an 8th. And again as Allah
says,
in all cases, the distribution comes after the
payment of any bequests or debts.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then says,
if a person
is going to inherit
as Kalala and this will be mentioned in
the final verse of Surah Al Nisa as
well. Kalala is the situation where a person
passes away
and they have neither descendants living nor descendants.
No parents or grandparents living. No children or
grandchildren living.
So therefore, the next closest people to them
are their siblings.
After, obviously,
they may have had wives and so on
and and but their next closest ones are
their siblings.
Here Allah says
and they have a single brother or they
have a single sister
then that person
will receive or that brother will receive that
man will receive a 6th of the inheritance
and if there is more than one, they
receive a third.
This is referring to maternal brothers. What is
the maternal brother? The maternal brother is the
one that you and him share the same
mother but you have different fathers. That is
called a maternal brother or maternal sister. A
paternal brother or sister is where you share
the same father with them but you have
different mothers and a full brother or sister
is that you share both the same father
and the same sister.
So here Allah Azawajal when he speaks about
the share, one of them gets a 6th
or more than 1. If there's 2 or
more, they get a share of the 3rd.
This is referring to maternal brothers and that
is even though it is not stipulated or
mentioned explicitly in the verse, it is by
Ijma' of the scholars of Islam that Allah
ajna in this particular verse is referring to
the maternal brothers.
So usually speaking,
the
inheritance as we said is always done through
the male line.
And so everyone that inherits from you are
your male relatives meaning from your father's line
or from your own line through your male
descendants.
So your
son and daughter will inherit. But when it
comes to grandchildren,
it is only the grandchildren from your sons,
not from your daughters.
Because your daughters children will inherit from their
father's side
and so on and so forth.
One of the few that do inherit from
the maternal side though is maternal brothers and
that is because they are siblings.
However,
they are siblings to your mother as opposed
to through your father. Surah Allah says that
in this case, if there is 1 of
them they will receive a 6th, if there
is more than 1, 2 or more they
will receive their share of a 3rd
and again that is after the payment of
any bequests or debts and Allah repeats this
now 4 times in verses 11 and 12
4 times this issue has been repeated and
that is to stress the importance of these
issues.
The issue of debt as we said because
of the rights that people have to their
wealth that they borrow to the individual that
has now passed away and bequest because this
is what the person who has now passed
away, the deceased wanted to do with their
wealth and they wanted to give some of
it in a cause that is
good or that is, inshaAllah Ta'ala, charitable and
will help them.
Allah says, this is the commandment from Allah
Subhanahu Ta'ala and Allah
is all knowing and Allah is all forebearing.
Allah in verse number 13 he then says,
These are the bounds set
by Allah
and Allah
will admit those who obey him and his
Messenger to gardens graced with flowing streams and
there they will stay. That is indeed the
supreme triumph.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says that these are
the laws of Allah that Allah has set
in terms of inheritance
and so therefore
and obviously there are as we said
a lot more discussion that needs to be
had and a number of
other details that need to be mentioned and
studied before
someone truly understands inheritance.
For us, we just wanted people to understand
the general,
the general scope of inheritance and its general
the general way that it works. Clearly, the
details are studied in the books of fiqh
and practically speaking, when a person comes to
determining their own issues of inheritance, they need
to seek advice from someone who is qualified.
But Allah says here that these are the
laws of Allah
so therefore it is not permissible for a
person to come and change those laws by
saying that I want to give all of
my wealth to 1 person or I am
going to give it to this person as
a greater share than what they receive in
the Quran and the sunnah and so on
because that is a form of oppression and
that is what Allah says,
if you obey Allah and obey his messenger,
then Allah will give you rewards whether it
is in this issue or another issue. The
laws that Allah has set down, the laws
that Allah has established and that Allah has
set, those have to be obeyed whether I
like it or I don't like it, whether
it's something which works for me or it
doesn't work for me. Those are the laws
that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has said. And
so sometimes people find this difficult because sometimes
unfortunately in families, there is animosity and rancor
and ill feelings sometimes between
very close relations
between parents and their children,
between siblings
and so on. And so therefore sometimes people
find it difficult but Allah Azzawajal is saying
that these are the laws of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala and these are the laws that
you should abide by. And so therefore it
is the practice of the Muslims to submit
to Allah
to submit to the commands of Allah
and by doing so,
even if it is something which you don't
find necessarily
easy to do, Allah gives you the great
reward of Jannah and that is the true
triumph.
And no one should want to come on
the Day of Judgement holding any oppression or
having any oppression
in their scale of deeds. No one wants
to come and stand before Allah Azza wa
Jal having oppressed others, having withheld their
rights, being held to account for that type
of harm that they may have done. And
so therefore
if Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has commanded something,
you simply do as Allah
has commanded because in that way lies success
as Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says that is
the supreme triumph.
In the final verse on this page, verse
number 14,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala then says,
But those who disobey Allah and His Messenger
and overstep His limits will be consigned by
Allah to the fire and there they will
stay a humiliating torment awaits them. So Allah
said to obey Allah
in his commands, therein lies success and to
disobey Allah and his messenger salallahu alaihi wa
sallam and to overstep the boundaries that Allah
has set or to ignore the laws that
Allah has set or to change the laws
that Allah
has established,
therein lies destruction
and humiliation
and punishment. And so therefore Allah 'Azza wa
Jal mentions these two points here after these
verses of inheritance because as we said, this
was one of the most common ways of
oppression
that people used to have before the time
of Islam and unfortunately it has continued even
into our time today, where in many communities,
in many Muslim families, there is still an
element of oppression that takes place when it
comes to this issue of
inheritance. So we ask Allah
that he gives us the ability to know
the truth and to follow it. That Allah
safeguards us all from oppression and from harming
others and that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gives
us the ability to fulfill the rights of
others and to be fair and just with
all.
And with that we come to the end
of today's episode.