2822. If the deceased is survived by some of his paternal uncles or aunts who share the same mother (with his father), the estate will be divided equally amongst them. However, if he is survived by both his paternal uncles and aunts who share the same mother, then obligatory precaution dictates that they should reach a compromise in distributing the inheritance.
2823. If the heirs of a deceased are his paternal uncles and aunts, and some of them share the same father and mother (with his father), whilst others share the same father only, and yet others share the same mother only, then the uncles and aunts who share the same father only will not inherit anything. Therefore, if the deceased is survived by one paternal uncle or aunt who shares the same mother, the estate—according to a great number of renowned scholars—will be divided into six parts, one of which will go to the paternal uncle or aunt who shares the same mother, and the remaining will go to the paternal uncle or aunt who shares the same father and mother. In the event that such an uncle or aunt is not present, it will go the paternal uncle or aunt who shares the same father. However, the obligatory precaution is that the paternal uncle or aunt who shares the same father and mother or the same father, should reach a compromise with the paternal uncle or aunt who shares the same mother in one part of the five parts.
If, however, the deceased is survived by a paternal uncle and a paternal aunt who share the same mother, they should divide the estate into three parts. Two parts of it should be given to the paternal uncle or aunt who share the same father and mother, and in the event of their absence, it should be given to the paternal uncle and aunt who share the same father. The other part should be given to the paternal uncle and aunt who share the same mother.
The paternal uncle who shares the same father and mother, or shares the same father, will inherit twice the inheritance of the maternal aunt who shares the same father and mother, or shares the same father. In the case of paternal uncles and aunts who share the same mother, the obligatory precaution is that they reach a compromise settlement.
2824. If the deceased is survived by only one maternal uncle or one maternal aunt, he/she will inherit the entire estate. However, if both the maternal uncle and maternal aunt are present, and both share the same mother and father, or share the same mother, or share the same father, then according to a great number of renowned scholars, the estate will be distributed equally amongst them. However, the obligatory precaution is that the maternal uncle and aunt should reach a compromise in the distribution of the estate.
2825. If the deceased is survived by only one maternal uncle or aunt who shares the same mother, and a maternal uncle or aunt who shares the same mother and father, and in the absence of an uncle or aunt who shares the same mother and father, he is survived by a maternal uncle or aunt who share the same father only, then a great number of renowned scholars have stated that the estate should be divided into six parts, of which one part should be given to the maternal uncle or aunt who shares the same mother, and the remaining parts should be given to the maternal uncle or aunt who share the same mother and father, or the same father. They also mention that, in the event that both the maternal uncle and the maternal aunt who share the same mother are present, the estate should be divided into three parts, of which one part will go to the maternal uncle and aunt who share the same mother, and two parts will go the maternal uncle or aunt who share the same mother and father, or the same father.
However, the obligatory precaution in both cases is that the uncles and aunts who share the same mother should reach a compromise settlement with those who share the same father. Similarly, the maternal uncles and aunts should also reach a compromise settlement amongst themselves.
2826. If the deceased is survived by one or more maternal uncles, or one or more maternal aunts, or maternal uncles and aunts and one or more paternal uncles, or one or more paternal aunts, or maternal uncles and aunts, then the estate will be divided into three parts. One part will belong to the maternal uncle or aunt, or both of them, and the remaining two parts will belong to the paternal uncle or aunt, or both of them.
2827. If the deceased is survived by one maternal uncle or aunt, and one paternal uncle and aunt then, if the paternal uncle and aunt share the same mother and father, or the same father, the estate will be divided into three parts. The maternal uncle or aunt will inherit one of the parts, and of the remaining part, two parts of it will belong to the paternal uncle and one part of it will belong to the paternal aunt. Hence, the estate will effectively be divided into nine parts, of which three parts will go to the maternal uncle or aunt, and four parts of it will go to the paternal uncle and two parts to the paternal aunt.
2828. If the deceased is survived by one maternal uncle or maternal aunt, and one paternal uncle or aunt who shares the same mother (with his father), and a paternal uncle and aunt who share the same mother and father, or the same father only, the estate should be divided into three parts. One part will belong to the maternal uncle or aunt, and the remaining two parts, according to a great number of renowned scholars, will be divided into six parts. One of these six parts will belong to the paternal uncle or aunt who shares the same mother, and the remaining will belong to the paternal uncle and aunt who share the same mother and father, or the same father only. In the latter case, the paternal uncle will inherit twice the inheritance of the paternal aunt. Hence, if the estate is divided into nine parts, three parts will belong to the maternal uncle or aunt, and one part will belong to the paternal uncle or aunt who shares the same mother, and five parts will belong to the paternal uncle and aunt who share the same mother and father, or share the same father only. However, the obligatory precaution is that the paternal uncle and aunt who share the same father should work out a compromise with the paternal uncle or aunt who shares the same mother, with respect to one part of the five parts.
2829. If the deceased is survived by a number of maternal uncles and aunts, all of whom share the same father and mother (with his father), or the same father only, or the same mother only, and is also survived by some paternal uncles and aunts, the estate will be divided into three parts. Two parts will belong to the paternal uncles and aunts. In the event that they share the same mother and father, or the same father only, the paternal uncles will inherit twice the inheritance of the paternal aunts. However, if they share the same mother only, then obligatory precaution dictates that they work out a compromise. The remaining one part of the three parts will belong to the maternal uncles and aunts, and obligatory precaution dictates that they work out a compromise.
2830. If the deceased is survived by a number of maternal uncles or aunts who share the same mother only (with his father), and a number of maternal uncles and aunts who share the same mother and father, or the same father only (in the event that the ones who share the same mother and father are not present), and is also survived by his paternal uncles and aunts, the estate should be divided into three parts. Two parts will belong to the paternal uncle and aunt, and they will distribute it amongst themselves in the manner explained in the previous article. The remaining part will also be distributed in the manner elaborated previously.
2831. If the deceased is not survived by any paternal uncles or aunts, and neither by any maternal uncles or aunts, then the shares of the paternal uncles and aunts will go to their children, and the shares of the maternal uncles and aunts will go to their children.
2832. If the deceased is survived by the paternal uncles and aunts, and the maternal uncles and aunts of his father, and the paternal uncles and aunts and the maternal uncles and aunts of his mother, the estate will be divided into three parts. According to a number of renowned scholars, one part will be distributed equally between the paternal uncles and aunts, and the maternal uncles and aunts of his mother. The other two parts will be divided into three parts, of which the maternal uncle and aunt of his father will divide one part of it equally amongst themselves, and the other two parts will belong to the paternal uncle and aunt of his father, wherein the uncle will inherit twice the inheritance of the aunt.
However, the obligatory precaution is that the paternal uncles and aunts, and the maternal uncles and aunts of his mother, should work out a compromise with respect to the distribution of one third of the entire estate. Similarly, the maternal uncle and aunt of the father should work out a compromise between themselves with respect to the distribution of one third of the two thirds. As for the paternal uncle and aunt of his father, they should act in the manner prescribed in article 2823.
2833. If a wife passes away, and does not leave behind any children, then her husband will inherit half of her estate, and the other half will be inherited by the other heirs. However, if she leaves behind children that she conceived with that husband or another husband, then her husband will inherit a quarter of her estate, and the other heirs will inherit the rest of it.
2834. If a man passes away and does not leave behind any children, then his wife will inherit a quarter of her wealth, and the other heirs will inherit the rest of it. However, if he leaves behind children whom he conceived with that wife or another wife, then his wife will inherit one-eighth of his wealth, whilst the other heirs will inherit the rest.
The wife will not inherit from the land of a house, nor from a garden, a farm or any other lands. She will not inherit the land itself, nor its value. However, she will inherit from the things situated in the space occupied by the land, such as buildings and trees. If the rest of the heirs wish to give her the value of the building or the trees, she will have to accept it. The same ruling applies to trees, cultivation and buildings that are situated on a garden, a farm or any other piece of land.
2835. If a woman wishes to exercise discretion over things which she does not inherit, such as the land of a house, she must seek permission from the rest of the heirs. Similarly, the other heirs cannot exercise discretion over the wife’s portion—without her permission—of the things situated over the land, such as buildings and trees, if they have not given it or its value to her.
2836. If they wish to appraise the value of the buildings, trees and similar structures, with the purpose of giving the portion of the wife from that value, then they should appraise it by assuming how much it would be worth if it were to remain on the land until it perished without being leased. They should then give the wife her share on the basis of such an appraisal.
2837. The path wherein the water of a canal flows and any similar thing is subject to the rules of lands. The brick work and other material that has been used to construct it will be subject to the rules of buildings.
2838. If the deceased leaves behind more than one wife, and, if he does not leave behind any children, one-fourth of the estate will be distributed equally between his wives. If he is survived by his children, then one-eighth of the estate will be shared equally between his wives. It will not matter if he had consummated his marriage with some of them and not with others. However, if he marries a woman in the period of illness which was the cause of his demise, and does not consummate the marriage with her, then that woman will not inherit from him, nor will she reserve the right to demand her mahr.
2839. If a woman marries a man during the period of her illness which results in her demise, then her husband will inherit from her even if he has not consummated his marriage with her.
2840. If a woman is divorced by a revocable divorce, in the manner that was elaborated in the section on divorce, and she passes away during the period of her ‘iddah, her husband will inherit from her. Similarly, if the husband passes away during that period, his wife will inherit from him. However, if one of them passes away after the completion of the ‘iddah, or after an irrevocable divorce, the other partner will not inherit from him/her.
2841. If a husband divorces his wife while he is ill, but passes away prior to the passage of twelve lunar months, then his wife will inherit from him given the following three conditions:
a. If she has not married another husband during this period, and in the event that she has married another husband, the obligatory precaution is that they should reach a compromise.
b. She should not have paid a sum to her husband to divorce her, because she did not feel inclined to him. In fact, even if she does not give anything to her husband, but the divorce is granted upon the request of the wife, then it is problematic to claim that she can inherit from him.
c. The husband should die in the period of illness during which he divorced his wife, either owing to that illness or another cause. Hence, if he recovers from that illness and passes away owing to another reason, his wife will not inherit from him.
2842. The clothes that a man buys to clothe his wife will be counted as part of his estate after he dies, even if his wife had worn those clothes.
2843. If a father passes away, his Qur’an, his ring and the clothes that he was wearing will belong to his eldest son. If he owns more than one item of the three mentioned items, such as two Qur’ans or two rings, the obligatory precaution is that the eldest son should reach a compromise with the other heirs. Similarly, the obligatory precaution is that they should reach a compromise with respect to the books, the saddles of a camel, riding camels and weapons other than a sword.
2844. If the deceased is survived by more than one eldest child, such as a case where two sons are born to him at the same time from two different wives, then they should equally divide between themselves the items mentioned in the previous article.
2845. If the deceased has a debt, and his debt is equal to or more than his estate, then the items mentioned earlier which were the properties of the eldest son, should be given towards paying off the debt. However, if his debt is less than his estate, then a proportional amount should be given from the items which are given to the eldest son, to pay off his debt. For example, if the entire estate of the deceased amounts to sixty dollars, of which twenty dollars include the things that are given to the eldest son, and he has incurred a debt of thirty dollars, then the eldest son must give ten dollars from those items to pay off the debt of the deceased.
2846. A Muslim may inherit from a k¡fir, however a k¡fir does not inherit from a Muslim, even if he be the father or son of the Muslim.
2847. If a person intentionally kills one of his relatives without a valid reason, he will not inherit from him. However, if he kills him by mistake, such as a case where he throws a stone into the air and it falls on the other person, killing him, then he will inherit from him. However, it is problematic to claim that he also inherits of the blood money acquired from the death.
2848. At the time of disbursing the inheritance, for a child that is still in the womb of its mother, and would inherit if it is born alive, one should set aside one share given that one does not consider it probable that the mother is carrying more than one child. Precaution dictates that the share of one boy should be set aside. The remaining shares should be disbursed to the other heirs.
However, if they entertain a rational probability that the mother is carrying more than one child, then they should set aside the shares of the probable number of children, and the remaining should be disbursed to the other heirs. If, however, one attains trust and confidence that the rights of the probable number of children will not be lost, they may disburse amongst themselves the amount that exceeds the share of one child.
Banks are of two types: Islamic and non-Islamic.
Islamic banks are of three types: privately owned banks, government owned banks, and banks that are co-owned by private individuals and the government.
The more apparent opinion is that legal transactions carried out with government banks are permissible. The same applies to banks which are co-owned by private individuals and the government. The more precautious stance however is that a person should seek permission from the ¦¡kim al-shar’iyy for acquiring money from these two types of banks and for spending it.
2849. Taking a loan from an Islamic bank, or giving a loan to an Islamic bank, wherein a profit or a benefit has been stipulated is considered to be interest-based and hence forbidden. However, there are some ways to avoid being afflicted with interest-based transactions. For example, the borrower may buy an item from the bank or its representative for a specific proportion that is greater than the market-value, such as ten or twenty percent over the market-value, and then stipulate that the bank should loan him the originally desired amount for a specific period. Similarly, he may choose to sell an item to the bank or its representative for a specific proportion that is below the market-value, and stipulate that the bank should loan him the originally desired amount for a specific period.
He may also employ the same method when giving a loan to a bank. For example, the bank may buy an item from him for a value that is above its market-value, or sell him an item below its market-value, and stipulate that the person loan a particular sum for a specific period to the bank.
This result can also be realized by renting, reaching a compromise or gifting with the condition of loaning.
2850. It was elaborated in the previous article that the ruling of giving a loan to the bank is similar to the ruling of taking a loan from the bank. Hence, if a condition of profit or benefit is stipulated within the loan agreement, it will be interest-based and hence forbidden. It will make no difference whether the money is deposited in a savings account or a chequing account.
However if the condition of a profit is not stipulated, and a person does not consider himself as a creditor, it will be permissible for him to deposit the money in that bank, even if the bank pays interest to him.
