A man married for the second time a Christian widow, after she had embraced Islam. Can this man's son by his first wife marry the daughter of his father's wife by her previous marriage? Is the daughter eligible to inherit this man's property after his death?
The children by past marriages of both the man and his new wife have no relationship whatsoever with one another. The man and the woman in this relationship were stranger to each other at the time when their children were born. Hence, the same relationship, or indeed the lack of it, obtains between those children regardless of the fact that the father of one child has married the mother of another. In this case the man has a son and the woman a daughter. These two can marry each other if they wish to do so. Consequently, they are not allowed to stay alone together in a room or a house like a brother and sister because they are not brother and sister.
If the new marriage produces children, these become brothers and sisters to all the other children born to either of their parents in their previous marriages. Hence, they cannot marry any of their half brothers or sisters.
The same relationship applies with respect to inheritance. The woman's daughter by her first marriage cannot inherit her mother's husband (i.e. stepfather) when he dies. Nor can the man's son or daughter inherit their stepmother along with her own children should she die. Each inherit his or her own parent. Children of the new marriage, however, share in the inheritance of each of their parents alongwith their brothers and sisters by previous marriages.
There is, however, one possibility of inheritance which should be clear. If the man, say, dies, his wife inherits one eighth of his property, with the remainder going to his own children. It is divided equally between his children by his first and second marriages, on the basis of each daughter inheriting half of the share of each son. The woman's own daughter by her first marriage does not have any share. If her mother subsequently dies, she inherits her along with the woman's other children by all her marriages. The mother's property may include something which was originally owned by her deceased husband. Her daughter may receive that as her share. This becomes hers as a part of the inheritance of her own mother, not as part of her stepfather's property. She has no entitlement to what he leaves behind. But she has every right to her share in her mother's inheritance.
There is a factor which precludes the daughter from inheriting her own mother. You say that the mother was formerly a Christian and she embraced Islam before her marriage. Has the daughter also accepted Islam? If so, then she inherits her mother. If not, she does not inherit anything. This is because Islam does not allow inheritance between the followers of different religions. The Prophet says: "Followers of two different religions may not inherit one another."
• Inheritance: Complicated question of inheritance
When my father-in-law died, he left behind two wives, one of them non-Muslim with one son and one daughter. He also had two sons and three daughters by his second Muslim wife. His second wife bought a house and registered it in her name after his death. She subsequently died. My father-in-law had also two properties, the first registered in his two wives' names and the second in their two elder sons' names. The first wife's son demands a 50 percent share of all three properties. A lawyer has told me that the first wife's children do not have any shares in these properties. I will be grateful for your advice on how these properties be shared out.
You seem to imply that all three properties belong to your father-in-law in spite of their registration in various names. You have to establish that either through the agreement of all heirs, or by some other proof. If you cannot, then the house which is registered in the two eldest sons' names will remain theirs and each of them will be able to take his share. If they have given pledge to their late father that they would be looking after their brothers and sisters, then they must do that. Obviously, there is no court which will be able to enforce that without their cooperation. If they claim that the house belongs to them, they have a legal evidence.
The Prophet has warned against this in a very serious manner. He says; "I am only a human being and you put your disputes to me. Some of you may have a stronger argument than that of his brother. If I give him something which belongs by right to his brother, I am only giving him a brand of fire which he may take or leave." Here the two eldest sons have that strong argument. If their father had placed them in this position so that they will ensure that their brothers and sisters will have their fair shares and they refuse to do that, they are unfaithful to their trust.
I understand that both wives are now dead. This complicates matter immensely, particularly with regard to the first property which is registered in their two names. Perhaps the best thing that could happen here is an agreement by all children of your father-in-law by his two late wives, that the property belonged in reality to him, and therefore, it should be divided among his heirs. If they do not agree and a court will decide on the inheritance of that property, the following will happen. One half of the property which is in the name of the Muslim wife will be inherited by her five children on the basis of one share for each daughter and two shares for each son. This assumes that your later mother-in-law did not have any other heirs, such as her parents. The other half of the property which was registered by the non-Muslim wife of your father-in-law could not be inherited by her children, because her children are Muslims, following their father's religion. Therefore, it is to be inherited by her non-Muslim relatives.
The third property is even more problematic. There are two possibilities here:
If the price of that property was equal to or less than the share of your late mother-in-law in her husband's inheritance: A wife whose husband has children, inherits only one eighth of her husband's property. If he has more than one wife, then the wives' share altogether will be one eighth. But because the other wife was a non-Muslim, she does not inherit anything from her husband. The Prophet says that the followers of two different religion do not inherit from one another. As I have already mentioned, her children do not inherit from her because they are Muslims and she was not. Nor does she inherit from her husband or from her children if she survived them. Therefore, your late mother-in-law's share was one eighth of the full property of her husband. If that was sufficient to buy the house, then we consider it as her own property and it goes to her own children. The other children of your late father-in-law do not take any part of this house. This sharing here is a one seventh share of each of the two sons. This assumes that she had no other heirs. Her parents would have inherited from her as well if they had survived her.
The other possibility is that the price of the property was larger than your late mother-in-law's share: In this case, the best thing is to turn that property to your father-in-law's estate which should be shared by his heirs.
The claim of the first wife's son for a 50 percent share of everything is inadmissible. You will have to explain to him that the sharing of inheritance has been pre-determined by Allah. In this case, whatever is finally agreed to be part of your father-in-law's estate should be shared out in the following manner: One eighth to his second wife. She receives her share because she survived her husband. The remainder goes to all children by both marriages. Altogether, he had three sons and four daughters surviving him. The rest of his property, i.e. after payment of one eighth to his Muslim wife, should be divided to ten shares, giving one share to each of the daughters and two shares to each of the three sons. Again this assumes that neither of your father-in-law's parents had survived him.
If either did, then they receive one sixth share each before dividing the remainder among his children.
There is further division to be made, - that of the share of your late mother-in-law. She is inherited only by her own children, not by the children of the first wife. If neither of her parents is alive, her property is divided into seven shares, giving one to each daughter and two shares to each son.
• Inheritance: Forgoing one's right
A person who is entitled to receive a share of inheritance finds himself forced to forgo it because other heirs who are in possession of the property resort to delaying tactics in order to prolong procedures. How far can their action be tolerated?
I understand that those other heirs are already in possession of the property and their tactics are really intended to tire the other heir out so that he would forgo his share partly or totally. If the case is such then these people are guilty of an act of injustice. God has forbidden injustice most emphatically in all situations. There is an additional aspect to injustice in matters of inheritance. As you are aware, God has provided the details of inheritance in the Qur'an, assigning well-defined shares to different heirs. He has done so in order to prevent arguments and quarrels between heirs who are normally close relatives. When people ignore all that and resort to different tactics in order to usurp the rights of others who may be their brothers and sisters, or other close relatives, they are committing an offense against other heirs and an offense against God Himself. They would be on their guard because their action could land them in serious trouble.
My advice to the person concerned in this question is that he should not forgo his share, because by doing so, he hands the other people what they want. He should make it clear to them that he does not intend to abandon his right. He should claim it as forcefully as he can, even going to court if necessary. Sometimes, however, going to court is not very wise, because the amount he will get at the end may be less than the costs he would have to bear. He should plan his action well in order to get what belongs to him without incurring any loss.
Sometimes, however, it is very good to forgo one's portion of inheritance. Suppose a brother who is doing well in his life inherits a share in a house which he will have together with his sister who is married to a poor man. She has a number of children and her family lives in a rented accommodation in a poor area. If the brother forgoes his share in the house in favor of his sister, he helps her to have a house of her own for her family. She will not have to pay rent any more. What her family used to pay in rent may be used for other family expenses. If he forgoes his share in her favor, he stands to earn a generous reward from God.
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