He also asks: If a father and a son die in an accident and it is not known which of them died first, what is the ruling in such a case?
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The questioner : He also asks: If a father and a son die in an accident and it is not known which of them died first, what is the ruling in such a case?
The Shaykh : The stronger opinion in this case is that there is no inheritance between them, because a condition of inheritance is knowing that the heir was alive after the death of the one from whom he inherits. Indeed, Allah the Exalted says, and Allah made inheritance with the letter *lam* which indicates ownership.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : He said:[An-Nisa 4:11] And He said [An-Nisa 4:11] And He said [An-Nisa 4:12] [An-Nisa 4:12] and so on. The *lam* indicates ownership, and it is known that there is no ownership except in the state of life; the dead person does not own. From this, we derive that it is necessary to know that the heir remained alive after the death of the one from whom he inherits. If we are ignorant of the situation, this condition is missed. And if the condition is missed, or if the condition is negated, the conditioned is negated. So the correct view in this issue is that there is no inheritance between them; the son does not inherit anything from his father, and the father does not inherit anything from his son.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The stronger opinion in this case is that there is no inheritance between them, because a condition of inheritance is knowing that the heir was alive after the death of the one from whom he inherits. Indeed, Allah the Exalted says, and Allah made inheritance with the letter *lam* which indicates ownership.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : He said:
Allah instructs you concerning your children: for the male, what is equal to the share of two females
يُوصِيكُمُ اللَّهُ فِي أَوْلادِكُمْ لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الأُنثَيَيْنِAnd for one's parents, to each one of them is a sixth
وَلِأَبَوَيْهِ لِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا السُّدُسُAnd for you is half of what your wives leave
وَلَكُمْ نِصْفُ مَا تَرَكَ أَزْوَاجُكُمْAnd for the wives is one fourth
وَلَهُنَّ الرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُمْThe questioner : Yes.