Chapters on Shares of Inheritance

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: “OAbu Hurairah. Learn about the inheritance and teach it, forit ishalf of knowledge, but it will be forgotten. This is the firstthingthat will be taken away from my nation.’”

It wasnarrated that Jabir bin ‘Abdullah said: “The wife of Sa’d binRabi’ came with the two daughters of Sa’d to the Prophet (ﷺ)andsaid: ‘O Messenger of Allah, these are the two daughters ofSa’d. Hewas killed with you on the day of Uhud, and their paternaluncle hastaken all that their father left behind, and a woman isonly marriedfor her wealth.’ The Prophet (ﷺ) remained silentuntil the Verse ofinheritance was revealed to him. Then theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ)called the brother of Sa’d bin Rabi’ andsaid: ‘Give the two daughtersof Sa’d two thirds of his wealth,and give his wife on eighth, andtake what is left.’”

It wasnarrated that Huzail bin Shurahbil said: “A man came to AbuMusaAl-Ash’ari and Salman bin Rabi’ah Al-Bahili and asked them about(the shares of) a daughter, a son’s daughter, a sister throughone’sfather and mother. They said: ‘The daughter gets one half,and what isleft goes to the sister. Go to Ibn Mas’ud, for he willconcur withwhat we say.’ So the man went to Ibn Mas’ud, and toldhim what theyhad said. ‘Abdullah said: ‘I will go astray andwill not be guided (ifI say that I agree); but I will judge as theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ)judged. The daughter gets one half, and theson’s daughter gets one-sixth. That makes two thirds. And what isleft goes to the sister.’”

It wasnarrated that Ma’qil bin Yasar Al-Muzani said: “I heard theProphet (ﷺ) when a case was brought to him which involved the shareof a grandfather. He gave him one third, or one sixth.”

It wasnarrated that Ma’qil bin Yasar said: “The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) ruled concerning a grandfather who was among us, that he shouldreceive one sixth.”

It wasnarrated that Ibn Dhu’aib said: “A grandmother came to Abu BakrSiddiq and asked him for her inheritance. Abu Bakr said to her: ‘Youhave nothing according to the Book of Allah, and I don’t know ofanything for you according to the Book of Allah, and I don’t knowof anything for you according to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ). Go back until I ask the people.’ So he asked the people andAl-Mughirah bin Shu’bah said: ‘I was present with the Messengerof Allah (ﷺ) and he gave her (the grandmother) one sixth.’ AbuBakr said: ‘Is there anyone else with you (who will corroboratewhat you say)?’ Muhammad bin Maslamah Al-Ansari stood up and saidsomething like what Mughirah bin Shu’bah had said. So Abu Bakrapplied it in her case.”

It wasnarrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)gave agrandmother one sixth of the inheritance.

It wasnarrated from Ma’dan bin Abu Talhah Al-Ya’muri that ‘Umar binKhattab stood up to deliver a sermon one Friday, or he addressed themone Friday. He praised and glorified Allah, and said: “By Allah, Iamnot leaving behind any problem more difficult than the one wholeavesbehind an heir. I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and heneverspoke so harshly to me about anything as he spoke to me aboutthis. Hejabbed his finger into my side or my chest and said: ‘O‘Umar,sufficient for you is the Verse that was revealed in summer,at theend of Surat An-Nisa’.”

‘Umarbin Khattab said: “There are three things, if the Messenger ofAllah (ﷺ) had clarified them, that would have been dearer to methanthe world and everything in it: a person who leaves behind noheir,usury, and the caliphate.”

It wasnarrated from Muhammad bin Munkadir that he heard Jabir bin‘Abdullahsay: “I fell sick and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came tovisitme, he and Abu Bakr with him, and they came walking. I had lostconsciousness, so the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) performed ablution andpoured some of the water of his ablution over me. I said: ‘OMessengerof Allah, what should I do? How should I decide about mywealth?’Until the Verse of inheritance was revealed at the end ofAn-Nisa’:“If the man or woman whose inheritance is in questionhas left neitherascendants or descendents.” [4:12] And: “Theyask you for a legalverdict. Say: ‘Allah directs (thus) about thosewho leave neitherdescendants nor ascendants as heirs.’” [4:176]

It wasnarrated from Usamah bin Zaid, who attributed it to theProphet(ﷺ): “The Muslim does not inherit from a disbeliever and thedisbeliever does not inherit from a Muslim.”

It wasnarrated from Usamah bin Zaid that he said: “O Messenger of Allah,will you stay in your house in Makkah?” He said: “Has ‘Aqeelleft us any houses?”

It wasnarrated from ‘Amr bin Shu’aib, from his father, from hisgrandfather, that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “People of twodifferent religions do not inherit from one another.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Amr bin Shu’aib, from his father, that hisgrandfather said: “Rabab bin Hudhaifah (bin Sa’eed) bin SahmmarriedUmm Wa’il bint Ma’mar Al-Jumahiyyah, and she bore himthree sons.Their mother died and her sons inherited her houses andthe Wala’ ofher freed slaves. ‘Amr bin ‘As took them out toSham, and they died ofthe plague of ‘Amwas. ‘Amr inherited fromthem, and he was their‘Asabah.* When ‘Amr came back, Banu Ma’marcame to him and theyreferred their dispute with him concerning theWala’ of their sisterto ‘Umar. ‘Umar said: ‘I will judgebetween you according to what Iheard from the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ). I heard him say: “What theson or father acquires goes tohis. ‘Asabah, no matter who they are.’”So he ruled in ourfavour and wrote a document to that effect, inwhich was thetestimony of ‘Abdur-Rahman bin ‘Awf, Zaid bin Thabit andsomeoneelse. Then when ‘Abdul-Malik bin Marwan was appointed caliph,afreed slave of hers (Umm Wa’il’s) died, leaving behind twothousandDinar. I heard that that ruling had been changed, so theyreferred thedispute to Hisham bin Isma’il. We referred the matterto ‘Abdul-Malik,and brought him the document of ‘Umar. He said:‘I thought that thiswas a ruling concerning which there was nodoubt. I never thought thatthe people of Al-Madinah would reach sucha state that they woulddoubt this ruling. So he ruled in our favour,and it remained likethat afterwards.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Aishah that the freed slave of the Prophet(ﷺ)fell from a palm tree and died. He left behind wealth but he hadnochild or close relative. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Give his legacyto a man from his village.”

It wasnarrated that the daughter of Hamzah said: “My freed slavedied,leaving behind a daughter. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) dividedhiswealth between myself and his daughter, giving me half and herhalf.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: “The killer does not inherit.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) stood up, on the day of the conquest of Makkah, and said: “Awoman inherits from the blood money and wealth of her husband, and heinherits from her blood money and wealth, so long as one of them didnot kill the other. If one of them killed the other deliberately,thenhe or she inherits nothing from the blood money or wealth. Ifone ofthem killed the other by mistake, he or she inherits from theother’swealth, but not from the blood money.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Umamah bin Sahl bin Hunaif that a man shotan arrowat another man and killed him, and he had no heir except amaternaluncle. Abu ‘Ubaidah bin Jarrah wrote to ‘Umar about that, and‘Umar wrote back to him saying that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “AllahandHis Messenger are the guardians of the one who has no guardian,andthe maternal uncle is the heir of one who has no other heir.”

It wasnarrated from Miqdam Abu Karimah, a man from Sham who was oneof theCompanions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), that the MessengerofAllah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever leaves behind wealth, it is for hisheirs. Whoever leaves behind poor dependents and a debt, it is for usto take care of – or he said: ‘It is for Allah and His Messenger(totake care of) – I am the heir of the one who has no heir, Iwill paythe blood money on his behalf and inherit from him. And thematernaluncle is the heir of the one who has no heir, he pays bloodmoney onhis behalf and inherits from him.”

It wasnarrated that ‘Ali bin Abu Talib said: “The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) ruled that the sons from the same mother inherit from oneanother, but not sons from different mothers. A man inherits from hisfull brother from the same father and mother, but not his brothersfrom his father.”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘Distribute wealth among those who are entitled to shares ofinheritance, according to the Book of Allah, then whatever is leftover goes to the nearest male relative.’”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “A man died at the time of theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he left no heir except for a slave whomhe had set free. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gave the legacy tohim.”

It wasnarrated from Wathilah bin Asqa’ that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Awoman may get three types of inheritance: From her freed slavewoman,a foundling whom she raised, and her child concerning whom shesworein Li’an that he was legitimate.”

It wasnarrated that Abu Hurairah said: “Then the Verse of Li’an wasrevealed, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Any woman whoattributedher child to people to whom he does not belong, then shehas norelation to (the religion of) Allah, and she will never enterParadise, and any man who rejects his child, while he recognizes him,Allah will screen Himself from him on the Day of Resurrection anddisgrace him before the witnesses.’”

It wasnarrated from ‘Amr bin Shu’aib, from his father, from hisgrandfather, that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “It is disbelief for amanto attribute himself to someone other than his father knowingly,or todeny his connection to his father, even subtly.”*

It wasnarrated from ‘Amr bin Shu’aib, from his father, from hisgrandfather that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoevercommitsadultery with a slave woman or a free woman, his child isillegitimate, and he cannot inherit from him or be inherited from(i.e., this child cannot inherit from him).”

It wasnarrated from ‘Amr bin Shu’aib, from his father, from hisgrandfather, that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Every childwhois attributed to his father after his father to whom he isattributedhas died, and his heirs attributed him to him after hedied, he ruledthat* whoever was born to a slave woman whom he ownedat the time whenhe had intercourse with her, he should be namedafter the one to whomhe was attributed, but he has no share of anyinheritance that wasdistributed previously. Whatever inheritance hefinds has not yet beendistributed, he will have a share of it. Buthe cannot be named afterhis father if the man whom he claimed as hisfather did notacknowledge him. If he as born to a slave woman whomhis father didnot own, or to a free woman with whom he committedadultery, then hecannot be named after him and he does not inheritfrom him, even ifthe one whom he claims as his father acknowledgeshim. So he is anillegitimate child who belongs to his mother’speople, whoever theyare, whether she is a free woman or a slave.”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)forbade selling the right of inheritance or giving it away.”