My father died 20 years ago, leaving behind 3 sons and 3 daughters. He also left 3 houses. Six years later, my second brother agreed terms of settlement with our eldest brother and received a sum of money. He and I transferred our shares to register them in our eldest brother’s name. My mother has 2 other houses, which she had inherited from her father. Of late, she has been insisting on registering them in the names of her two youngest children, i.e. my youngest sister and myself. This was done in the case of my sister, but I have refused, insisting that all division should be carried out according to Islamic law. Now my eldest sister has sent a lawyer’s notice demanding her share. The matter is further complicated by the fact that my eldest brother has paid much money on the renovation of the houses. Should I accept what my mother wants to do?
You have to differentiate two things here: your father’s inheritance, and your mother’s houses. As your mother is still alive, she must not favor two of her children by giving them her two houses. This is a gift, and parents’ gifts should be based on absolute fairness. If your mother wants to give this gift to you and your sister, she should give each one of her sons and daughters a house. If she cannot, then she should not give such gifts. Let the matter run its course and when she dies, her property is inherited according to the Islamic law of inheritance. The Prophet, peace be upon him, warned very strictly on this issue, calling on all parents to fear God and maintain justice between their children.
As for the inheritance of your father, it is wrong to leave it for such a long time without assigning to all heirs their respective shares. Such delay always results in unnecessary problems. Had such division been done, the 3 houses and the rest of your father’s property would have been valued and divided as follows: one-eighth goes to your mother, and the remainder is divided into 9 shares, one share for each of the three daughters and two shares for each of the three sons. This remains the case.
What should be done is a similar valuation, after the deduction of the expenses borne by your eldest brother in improving the property. Since your second brother received his share, your eldest brother should be compensated for what he paid by giving him the share he had bought from his brother. If such division is done now, the need for your sister seeking a lawyer's assistance will be unnecessary. In all this, you have to maintain fairness.
I congratulate my reader on his stand, refusing to take anything, which cannot be approved under Islamic law. He should maintain this position and impress on his mother that she should bring her action in line with Islamic law, which requires absolute fairness among all children.
Burdened with a son who indulges in every vice, such as drinking, gambling, rape, etc., a married couple decided to put their house as an endowment to the local mosque. They feared that if their son takes it after their death, he would sell it to spend the money on his bad habits. Are they correct in so doing?
What we need to understand is that whatever money or property we have does not belong to us in the first place. It belongs to God and He places us in charge of it. Therefore, when we die, we have no right to it. We cannot control what happens to it after our death. Hence, the Prophet, peace be upon him, tell us that “God has bestowed a favor on you, giving you one-third of your property.” This means that we may bequeath by will an amount not exceeding one-third of the total sum of our money and property. This should be given to deserving relatives who are not our heirs, to poor people or to an ongoing good purpose. Apart from that, whatever we have goes to our heirs according to the shares they have been given by the Divine system of inheritance. It is not possible for a person to favor one heir above others, or to disinherit any of his or her heirs.
This means that if you have three sons, you cannot give one of them anything by will. They receive their shares equally. You cannot deprive any of them of his shares. These have been given by God. How can we change them?
The only case when a son or a daughter does not inherit from a parent, or vice versa, is that in which one of the parties follows a religion other than Islam. If the deceased and the heir have different religions, they do not inherit each other. So, in this case, the parents may not do anything intended to deprive their son of his right to inherit. However, they make an endowment or give to other relatives by will something equal to one-third of their property. If the value of the house is within this amount, then it is possible, but if the house represents the larger part of their assets, then it cannot be done.
The parents should not regret this situation. They do not know what will happen to their son. They should continue to pray to God that he may mend his ways and realize that the way of life he is leading will land him in trouble, sooner or later, and will incur God’s punishment. If he does, he will be all the better having received his inheritance.
I have been married for over 7 years and have two children. I have been friendly with my wife’s sister, and this friendship developed into love, which is mutual, but by God’s grace, we kept this love pure and did not slip into committing any sin. I realize that I cannot marry my wife’s sister while my marriage lasts. However, my question is whether it is permissible for me to pray God to unite us all three in heaven.
This is a very serious matter. The Prophet, peace be upon him, was once asked about relations with in-laws. And he described it as “death”. That means that when the relationship develops into something of the kind described by the reader, it is more dangerous than death. Hence, the Prophet’s advice was to steer away from any situation where risks of this nature are involved.
My advice to my reader is to make sure that he would never be alone with his sister-in-law but should make sure that either his wife or a very close relative like her mother, father or other relatives be present with them whenever they are together. In this way, he will physically prevent any chance of temptation. At the same time, he should always remember the good qualities of his wife and picture to himself the horrible development in his relations with her sister. He should always pray God to spare him the agony of an emotion that could only lead to problems.
As for praying God to be united in heaven with His wife and her sister, there is no need for that, because it will only prolong his feeling of love with his sister-in-law. He should try his best to forget her and steer the relationship back to a normal family one. When he is in heaven with his wife and her sister, God willing, they will have only the purest of relationships. May God admit them all there. ~