Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Enter Question
View By Subject
Fatwa Of The Week
Selected Fatwa
Fatwa CenterNo bequest for an heir unless the other heirs approve
Question
Assalaamu ‘Alaykum; Please calculate the inheritance according to the following information -Does the deceased have male relatives who are entitled to inherit: (A son) Number 1 (A full brother) Number 2 -Does the deceased have female relatives who are entitled to inherit : (A daughter) Number 2 (A wife) Number 1 (A full sister) Number 1 - The will which the deceased left behind and that is related to his inheritance is : One year food and recident rental expance for wife
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.
One year costs of food and rented accommodation for wife is a bequest for an heir. This form of bequest should not be fulfilled except with the consent of the heirs. So, if the heirs approved that, then it (i.e. what is bequeathed) should be taken from the whole estate and given to the wife.
However, if the will is not approved by the heirs, then it will be ineffective. Al-Mawsoo‘ah Al-Fiqhiyyah (The Fiqh Encyclopedia) reads: "Jurists held two different opinions regarding the issue of the bequest for an heir:
Firstly, The Hanafi scholars viewed - and it is the preponderant opinion according to the Shaafi‘i and Hanbali scholars and one of the opinions of the Maaliki scholars - that the bequest for an heir is valid but may not be fulfilled except with the consent of the heirs. Thus, if they approved it after the death of the one who bequeathed it, then it should be fulfilled, otherwise, it will be invalid and has no effect at all. Also, If some of the heirs agree to the bequest but some others do not, then in this case the bequest should be fulfilled only with regard to the proportion of heirs who agreed to it.
Secondly, The Maaliki and Shaafi‘i scholars held another opinion - opposing to the preponderant opinion of their school and it is also one of the opinions of Hanbali scholars - that the bequest for an heir is totally invalid, even if all heirs agreed to it, unless they give the heir something as an initiated gift." [End quote]
According to both opinions, the mentioned will cannot be fulfilled except with the consent of all heirs.
However, if the deceased did not leave heirs except those mentioned in the question, then the wife gets one-eighth of the inheritance as her legal share due to the existence of the children of the deceased. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {But if you leave a child, then for them is an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you [may have] made or debt.} [Quran 4:12]
The son and two daughters will get the remainder by Ta'seeb ( by virtue of having a parental relation with the deceased and not having an allotted share, so they get what is left after the allotted shares have been distributed); the male twice the share of the female as Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {Allaah instructs you concerning your children: for the male, what is equal to the share of two females.} [Quran 4:11]
Nothing will be given to the full sister and two full brothers because they are prevented from inheriting by the existence of the son. Ibn Al-Munthir 
said: "The scholars agreed in a consensus that the full-brothers and full-sisters and the half-brothers and half-sisters from the father’s side do not inherit if there is a son or a grandson or even a great grandson, nor if there is the father."
Based on that, the estate should be divided into 32 shares, one-eighth (i.e. 4 shares) should be given to the wife, 14 shares to the son, and every daughter will get 7 shares.
Allaah Knows best.
Search Fatwa
Fatwa Subject
