A man passed away leaving behind wealth and a bequest of one-third of his estate for charity, and after his death and before the estate was divided, his wife passed away leaving one-third of her inheritance as charity. How is the division to be carried out?
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The questioner : My father passed away leaving an inheritance along with a bequest of one-third of what he owned as charity on his behalf for Allah. After the father’s death and before the inheritance was divided, the mother passed away, leaving a bequest of one-third of her inheritance as charity for Allah the Exalted. The remaining heirs are four daughters and two sons, and they have not agreed on how to divide the inheritance while fulfilling the bequests of both the father and the mother. How should this be handled?
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for your father, one-third of the wealth is taken first in order to be allocated to the bequest. Then the remainder is divided, and your mother, who is his wife, if she was still in his debt (i.e., her mahr was unpaid) until he died, takes one-eighth. The rest is distributed among you, with the male receiving the share of two females. You, as a male, receive two shares, and each female receives one share. As for your mother’s estate, one-third is taken from it first in order to be allocated to what she bequeathed.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Then the remainder, which is two-thirds, is divided among you, the children, with the male receiving the share of two females.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. This questioner is from Sudan, Muhammad Uthman Ahmad.
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for your father, one-third of the wealth is taken first in order to be allocated to the bequest. Then the remainder is divided, and your mother, who is his wife, if she was still in his debt (i.e., her mahr was unpaid) until he died, takes one-eighth. The rest is distributed among you, with the male receiving the share of two females. You, as a male, receive two shares, and each female receives one share. As for your mother’s estate, one-third is taken from it first in order to be allocated to what she bequeathed.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Then the remainder, which is two-thirds, is divided among you, the children, with the male receiving the share of two females.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. This questioner is from Sudan, Muhammad Uthman Ahmad.