One should give these parents at least the credit for being frank about their purpose. They are not unique in wishing to ensure that their property will go only to their children, but many people try to give matters a false appearance. Be that as it may, we have here the purpose stated honestly.

It is not unusual for parents to wish to give everything they have, after they had died, to their children. People normally work hard in their lifetime in order to ensure a comfortable living for themselves and for their children. When they die, they wish their children to have an equally comfortable life. Therefore, they dislike the idea that their property should be shared by other relatives who, close as they may be, can never be at the same level with their children. But if people would reflect a little, they will realize that the division God has made in the elaborate system of inheritance, that He has laid down, will eventually work to their children's advantage. Let us take the example of this particular family.

There is no doubt that at least some of those five daughters are still young. If their parents die, when they have not yet grown up or been married and settled down, who will look after them? In an Islamic society, their next of kin are responsible for their upbringing, education and indeed for their living, if they are poor. If the father of those five daughters dies, and he has a brother, who is the paternal uncle of the girls, then that uncle will have to look after them. In an Islamic society you will find numerous examples of uncles taking care of the children of their deceased brothers and sisters. You must have come across a family where a brother marries his deceased brother's widow in order to ensure that his young children are properly treated. The family would not hear of the young mother marrying into a different family, lest the children are not properly or well brought up. Even if that does not happen, still the young children are properly looked after by their father's relatives.

There is a rule in Islam which applies to the system of inheritance as well as to other aspects of life. That rule states that "gain is commensurate with responsibility." If we expect an uncle to look after his nieces, then it is only fair that this uncle should receive some gain, or at least be entitled to it, in certain circumstances. Thus, the Islamic system of inheritance assigns a certain portion of the estate to the male next of kin, when the deceased has no son, because it is likely that the next of kin will be called upon to provide some care to the daughters of his deceased relative.

Some people may say that those relatives who are indeed next of kin and who would benefit by their inheritance are not the type to fulfill such a responsibility, either because they have too many responsibilities of their own or because they do not care about even their own children. This may be so, but to start with, this is the exception, not the rule. In an Islamic society, the sense of loyalty and responsibility is sharpened, because it is linked to the desire to earn God's pleasure. Therefore, when a good Muslim finds himself responsible for young children whose father has died, he will happily undertake that responsibility, even though he might not have been on good terms with his deceased relative. Moreover, when he realizes that a portion of that relative's estate has fallen to him, he will feel better aware of his responsibility. He is certain to realize that the benefit he has gained is commensurate with the responsibility he must shoulder.

Besides, why do people fret over something that is quite trivial in real terms? Let us look at this case properly. The worst that could happen is that the father dies first. In this case, his wife will inherit one eighth of his property and two thirds of this whole property will be divided equally among his five daughters. The remainder will go to the nearest male relative. This of course assumes that the father does not have either his parents alive at the moment when he dies. If either of his parents is alive, then that parent will inherit one sixth of his property which leaves only an insignificant amount to any other relative. If the man's father is alive, he will get that portion as well. Still, if neither of his parents is alive, and he is survived by his wife and five daughters, then his property is divided into twenty-four shares; with three going to his widow and sixteen to be shared out equally by his five daughters. The remainder, which is five out of twenty four shares, i.e. just over twenty percent, goes to his brothers and sisters, if he has any, or to his nephew; if he has not.

If the mother dies first, then her property is divided into twelve portions; with three going to her husband and eight to be shared equally among his five daughters. That leaves only one share out of twelve to the nearest male relative of the mother. This is again assuming that neither of her parents survives her. In this case, what goes to her relatives is less than ten percent.

As you realize, the amount that is likely to go to such relatives is very small, and perhaps insignificant. However, it ensures that should the daughters of these parents need to be looked after by their relatives, those relatives are there to provide the care needed. If those parents were to deny these relative what God has assigned to them, then that is likely to entail that those relatives will not feel their obligation toward those daughters and will not be ready to give any assistance to them, should the need arise. My advice to these parents is to leave matters as they are, because the benefit, indeed all the benefit, is in implementing God's law as He has laid it down.

When we read the three verses from Qur'an which outline the Islamic system of inheritance and apportion the shares of all types of heirs, we will not fail to notice that the enforcement of deceased person's will and the settlement of his debts takes precedence over the sharing of his property among his heirs. This is mentioned four times in these verses, so as to cover every possible situation. Moreover, all scholars agree that settlement of debts takes precedence over the enforcement of will. Besides, the rules of inheritance allow a person to leave a maximum of one-third of his property to people other than his heirs. This is what is covered by will. In other words, a person's will should not exceed one-third of his or her property. Furthermore, it is not possible for anyone to make a will in favor of anyone of his heirs. The heirs receive only their shares apportioned to them by Allah as outlined in the Qur'an.

This system is both fair and logical. The top priority is given to the settlement of debts, because debt represents an advantage enjoyed by the deceased during his life by the courtesy of another person. The amount of the loan given to the deceased for the debt incurred by him does not belong to the deceased. Nor is any part of his estate. It belongs to the lender. Hence, it must be paid back without delay and prior to the sharing out of the property by the heirs of the deceased.

Again the payment of what the deceased has left by will takes precedence, because the will embodies the owner's wishes. That is to say, every person is given the privilege of deciding how a certain portion of his money should be used after his death. His right to determine that is stronger than the claim of his heirs to their portion. Normally a will is made in favor of relatives other than one's heirs. Those relatives may be poor or elderly, or ones who were looked after the deceased during his lifetime, but they are not included among his heirs. Alternatively, a will is made for general charitable purposes. This means that this provision of will allows everyone a chance to earn reward after his death. However, in order not to give a chance to anyone to abuse this provision by depriving his heirs of their rightful claims, the ceiling of one-third is imposed on the share of property one may bequeath by will.

Sa'ad ibn Abu Waqas fell ill and he was visited by the Prophet, peace be upon him. Sa'ad said to the Prophet, peace be upon him: "Messenger of Allah, I have only one daughter to inherit me. Shall I make a will covering the larger portion of my property?" The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "No." Sa'ad asked: "How about one half?" The Prophet's answer was again in the negative. Sa'ad then asked: "One-third then?" The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "One-third is all right, but even that, one-third is much." He then gave piece of advice: "To leave your heirs rich is better than leaving them poor, asking people for help."

The fact that Allah has taken care to determine the share of heirs Himself and to outline these shares in perfect detail in the Qur'an is evidence of the seriousness of the whole matter of inheritance. Had the distribution of estate been left to people to determine as they choose, the door would have been left open for unfair treatment of one's heirs and to absurdities of the type we hear about in other cultures, when people leave large sums of money to their dogs and cats.

When we do not implement Allah's law as He has laid down, we create problems for ourselves of which your case is a very clear example. You have divided your father's property before settling his debts and enforcing his will. When everyone has received his or her share they are unwilling to pay back their shares for the debts to be settled. That is unfair. Had you repaid your father's debts first and enforced his will, the problem would not have arisen. The shares of your fellow heirs would have been less than what they have already received and they would not have been able to do anything about it.

The first mistake was made by your father, when he asked his heirs to pay his debts. He had no reason to do so. If his property is sufficient for repayment, the debts will automatically be settled. If not, you as his son and your brothers and sisters [and your mother] are responsible for their settlement.

Repayment of a deceased person's debts is so important, because lending money in Islamic society is an aspect of social security, since it earns the lender no interest other than Allah's reward. If people are to lose the money they lend because the borrower dies, they will be very reluctant to help their brothers who need to borrow. To emphasize the seriousness of the whole matter, the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not offer the prayer for the deceased, i.e. janazah, if he had debts to settle. Once the body of a dead person was brought into the mosque for prayer. The Prophet, peace be upon him, inquired about his financial affairs and he was told that he had some debts outstanding. The Prophet, peace be upon him, indicated that he would not lead the janazah prayer and told his companions to go ahead and offer that prayer. One of them Abu Talha, declared that he would repay the debts on behalf of the deceased. The Prophet, peace be upon him, led that prayer. Later the financial situation of the Muslim state improved, the Prophet, peace be upon him, himself, as head of the state, settled the debts of anyone who died leaving no money to repay his loans.

Your fellow heirs cannot disclaim their responsibility for your father's debts since he left sufficient funds to settle them. Nor have they any justification to tell you to use what he has left for charity in order to repay his debts. That money does not belong to them in order to determine how it should be used. They are simply using someone else's property to dodge their own responsibility. What you should do is to explain the situation to them and to tell them that their attitude is unlawful. If they still insist, then your best course of action is to settle those debts yourself. By so doing, you prove yourself to be a highly dutiful son. You discharge your father's obligations and allow him to have the reward of his charitable act. You will receive abundant reward from Allah for doing your duty by your father. You will not fail to enjoy Allah's blessing in this life for being so kind and dutiful. May Allah help you do what is right.