The Order of Estate Rights: Debt, Bequest, and Inheritance
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you. This questioner says, may Allah protect you: Which is more deserving of being paid first, the debt or the execution of the bequest? Is it to be prioritized over the division of the estate, given the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:11]?
Answer:
There are five rights related to the specific assets of the estate. The first is preparing the deceased for burial, including washing him, shrouding him, transporting him, and burying him, including digging the grave if this requires expense and effort; this is given priority. The second is paying off the debts he owed, whether debts owed to Allah or debts owed to created beings. One begins with debts that are secured by pledges, then unsecured debts. Likewise, the right that follows the debt is the bequest, the lawful bequest; it is executed if it is one-third or less. After that comes the inheritance, the division of the inheritance among the rightful heirs. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
May Allah reward you. This questioner says, may Allah protect you: Which is more deserving of being paid first, the debt or the execution of the bequest? Is it to be prioritized over the division of the estate, given the saying of Allah the Exalted:
after any bequest he [may have] made or debt
مِن بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ يُوصِي بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍAnswer:
There are five rights related to the specific assets of the estate. The first is preparing the deceased for burial, including washing him, shrouding him, transporting him, and burying him, including digging the grave if this requires expense and effort; this is given priority. The second is paying off the debts he owed, whether debts owed to Allah or debts owed to created beings. One begins with debts that are secured by pledges, then unsecured debts. Likewise, the right that follows the debt is the bequest, the lawful bequest; it is executed if it is one-third or less. After that comes the inheritance, the division of the inheritance among the rightful heirs. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/265 — archive.org (4:34)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.