Yasir Qadhi – Ask Shaykh YQ #77 – Can a Muslim inherit from a non-Muslim

			We have a question from sister Xena. In America, she says that she was a new convert. And she's the
only Muslim in her family. And there is no Muslim relative she is also does not have any immediate
she does not have a husband or children yet and she's writing her will. And she is asking she was
told that Muslims do not inherit from non Muslims nor do they inherit to non Muslims. So she is
saying My mother has put my name in. In her Will my mother has put my name and her will. And so if
she passes on, am I allowed to take that money as well? I am writing a will and I don't have any
relatives other than my blood relatives and they're not Muslim, can I leave money to them?
		

			One
		

			out of seven, me poverty in the region? No, he aim first.
		

			Lake Erie
		

			the quote the answer to this question is actually very simple. This is a misunderstanding of Islamic
law that unfortunately, sometimes people say it to to add to new converts.
		

			And this is one of the problems of people without knowledge when they just spread things without
research without, you know, proper knowledge. And they will say that, oh, Muslims don't inherit from
non Muslims non Muslims don't inherit from Muslims. Now, there's an element of truth here. But the
way that it is understood and the way that it is said to a convert is also false. It shouldn't be
said so generically, this misunderstanding comes from a hadith inside bodies and authentic hadith
that our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that the Muslim does not inherit from the calf and
the calf or does not inherit from the Muslim This is a very clear, very explicit Hadith and it is
		

			authentic, it is Bahati and Muslim is an explicit howdy that diether Muslim world careful that the
Muslim does not inherit from the Catholic and the Kaffir does not inherit from the Muslim. What does
it mean though that inherit, you see,
		

			when it comes to inheritance, so hold classic can be given simplistically, we can divide the money
into two broad categories. When a person dies, there is a portion of their inheritance that is
dictated by the idea of a law, there is a portion that goes fractions according to the Quran
according to sort of the Nyssa according to because there's sort of the Nisa has all of the
fractions of inheritance, according to the rules of Islamic Sharia. So for example, according to
those rules in the Quran, one eighth goes to a wife, in certain circumstances, one sixth goes to a
mother, you know, one third goes here, one half goes there. So this is very explicit, every category
		

			has a certain fraction. Therefore, if a person dies without any will, in an Islamic land, there is
no need for a will in that case, because all of the money will go in accordance with how Allah has
dictated the shares of the inheritors to proceed, there is no need to write a will if you're living
in a land where, you know, the laws are going to be in accordance with this law. And you don't want
to make any changes, or any modifications that Allah has allowed you to do as we're going to come to
in part two of this question. This is the section where the profits of the law where I sent him his
Hadith applies, the Muslim does not inherit from the comfort of the conflict does not American or
		

			Muslim. So if there is a convert living in a land of Islam, her mother is a non Muslim lady, when
she passes away, then the one let's say, in this case, otherwise, it would have been, let's say, one
six to one half, she gets the share that Allah has assigned. In this case, that chair would not be
there. The shares that Allah has assigned in the Koran are between Muslim family members, that's the
point here. Okay. So if, as we said,
		

			let's say there's two brothers and and the father, let's say, okay, so one of the brothers is not a
Muslim, one of the brothers is a Muslim, the father is a Muslim, when the father dies, the shady I
would say that the two brothers share half each if there's no other relatives, this would be very
simplistic half each, but the fact that one is a Muslim and one is a non Muslim, Islamic law then
says that the non Muslim in this case is not going to take that share that is removed from the, the,
the if you like the shares of a law surgeon, he's removed from that. Now what's left, if a person
wants to give a portion of their inheritance to somebody that is not in the shares of a law, they
		

			have up to one third 33.33% up to one third of their wealth, they can give it to
		

			Somebody who's not in their list that Allah has assigned. So simple example, that you have a cousin
who helped you out when you were young. Okay? Let's just say that, you know, that cousin helped
finance your education. Okay, and now Hamdulillah, you are wealthy. Now that cousin is elderly,
their children are not that well off, you say I want to help that cousin's family because he helped
me. Now the cousin generally speaking, if you have immediate family and children and brothers and
sisters, the cousin is not going to inherit, okay, but you feel a sense that I owe something to that
family. So you can say 15% 20% 30% 33.33%, one third of my wealth I want to give to that family
		

			completely Hello, okay, that one third, you may give to Muslim or non Muslim doesn't matter, okay.
Therefore, if you have a person in your family that is not a Muslim, and you want to give some money
to them, at the time of you know, you're in your will at the time you pass on or vice versa, you may
right in your world, you may right up to one third for that person, and the rest will then go to the
shares assigned to you by Allah subhanho wa Taala, I hope that is clear. So you may write your
parents or whoever you want in your will no problem. Now, you are saying that you don't have any
Muslim family members. And that at this stage, you know, you're you know, you don't have any
		

			children, you don't have a spouse, all of your family is non Muslim, and also, that they might leave
things for you. So in this case, the fatwa from a number of councils, including the European
Council, including the female Council of North America, including, in this particular case, even the
one third does not apply to you why because we're not living in a land of Islam. So if you wish to
write a full will, where you assign, you know, this goes here, this goes there, because you don't
have any blood relatives, you know, if you were living in the land of Islam, then your shares would
go to the Treasury, the Islamic Treasury, you the shares that Allah had assigned to, will go to the
		

			Islamic Treasury, and one third would go to the people that you have assigned, okay, but there is no
Islamic Treasury over here. So if you want to give something to the masjid, you local must, you'd
give some to charities, that's fine. And if you decide, you know, what, I don't have any blood
relatives other than these family members, and I'm going to leave all of my wealth to them, in the
circumstances that we are in, in the Western world where we are a minority, we are allowed to
increase the one third share, as long as in your case, as you said, You're the only Muslim convert,
if you have Muslim family members that will inherit from you, then you cannot supersede the shares
		

			that Allah has given and you will want you must give them their share, and then they will also take
your share. So, bottom line,
		

			you may take whatever your mother has gifted you No problem, because we are not that she is not
bound by the Sharia. And she may write in her will that my daughter should get this much and that is
yours to take. And you as well may write in your will, however much you want to give to various
family members, and you are completely free to choose whoever you wish to do so because once again,
the shares that a law has assigned do not apply in this particular case. So for example, if you have
multiple siblings, but for whatever reason, you know, you want to give a few of them and not all of
them you have the right to do so in this case. Why? Because the shediac does not apply in your case
		

			because the siblings are not following Islam. So you otherwise if they were all Muslim, then you
could not pick and choose and all of them would have a share if you had no children, so you may
therefore take your mother's wealth if she passes on, I'm assuming that your father's already passed
on you only mentioning the mother and you may as well leave your inheritance however, however much
you want, you may leave to your relatives and Allah subhana wa tada knows best.