Inheritance in Islam

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INHERITANCE IN ISLAM

g) It is not permissible in the Shariah to hire one or more individuals to recite Qur'an for the deceased. And if such haraam fees are paid from the estate, the sin is compounded.

1. After payment of funeral expenses if any, the next step is to settle the debts of the deceased. Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam once mentioned that a shaheed (martyr) will be forgiven of all sins except debt. There was a stage in his life that the Great Messenger of Allah even refused to lead the Janaazah Salah of one who left behind unpaid debts. This issue is therefore quite serious. In fact so serious that Allah has given it preference over even the rights of the heirs.

2. If the entire estate goes in settling debts, the heirs will receive nothing, and there is nothing they can do about the matter. The right of the creditor comes first. It is fully within the limits of Shar’ee law to pay out the creditors first even if it means expending the whole estate. Should the liabilities exceed the assets of the estate then the following laws will apply.

3. If there is only one creditor and the assets of the estate are insufficient to settle the debt then whatever funds there are in the estate should be given to the creditor. As for the balance of the debt, the creditor may either waive it entirely and receive the great reward for such an act of kindness, or he may place his claim before Allah on the Day of Judgement. The surviving relatives are not obliged to settle this debt from their pockets.

1. Wasiyyat means a bequest. When a person leaves a certain item, property or amount of wealth to a relative, friend, organisation, Musjid or Madresa, this is termed ‘Wasiyyat’ in the Shariah.

2. A wasiyyat is also made for unpaid fidya of Qaza Salah, Qaza Fasts, Kaffara of any type, Hajje Badal, unpaid Zakaat or Fitra, and Qurbani.

3. If Hajj was faraz upon an individual and he/she had not yet performed the Hajj then it is waajib at the time of death to instruct someone to perform Hajje Badal on his or her behalf. Similarly, it is waajib to make wasiyyat on behalf of unfulfilled Salah, fasts, zakah, sadaqatul fitr and qurbani. For this the fidya amount will be taken into consideration. Such an amount must be determined from the Ulama of one’s locality.

4. If the mayyit, due to some misfortune, failed to make a wasiyyat for the payment of fidya, it is not waajib upon the heirs to effect such payment. We can then only pray to Allah that he pardons the deceased for this great lapse.

5. A Wasiyyat is only valid up to one third of the balance of the estate after funeral expenses and debts have been settled, even if the original wasiyyat made by the mayyit exceeded a third. For example, before death a man left behind instructions that R10,000.00 of his estate after his death must go to a certain madresa. However, when his creditors were paid out, the nett value of the remaining estate was R24,000.00. A third of this is R8,000.00. In this case, the wasiyyat will be honoured to the value of R8,000. 00 only, and not more, since this represents a third of the residue of the estate. The full amount of R10,000.00 will not be paid out.

(To be continued, Insha-Allah)

Creation of this World

The Ulama are unanimous that Allah Ta’ala created the heavens and the earth in 6 days, as is clearly mentioned in several places in the Holy Qur’an. These were the days from Sunday to Friday.

The earth was made on Sunday and Monday, and the mountains, trees, oceans, rivers, vegetation, etc. were created within the next two days, i.e., Tuesday and Wednesday, while the heavens and celestial bodies such as the sun and moon, were created on the Thursday and Friday. In all, the three groups of creations were brought into existence within 6 days.

Once the earth, its water, and vegetation were created, Allah Ta’ala made animals on this earth as well as different types of birds. The vegetation that Allah created was conducive to all forms of animals roaming the earth.

Before the above creations, Allah had already created the Pen and Lowh-e-Mahfooz, which captured all matters of taqdeer, and He had also made His Throne and Kursi.

All these were made long before the creation of the heavens and earth. For this reason these latter creations all exist above the seventh heaven.

Water and air was created before the world, and on this water rested the Throne of Allah. Allah caused this water to give off a steam and this steam rose above the water like a huge cloud of gas. From this Allah created the heavens. Then the water totally evaporated and the residue formed the basis of the earth. Later on Allah cleaved this earth apart to create seven different earths.

For purposes of creating Allah is not in need of material or tools. He merely says to something “Be!” and it comes into existence according to the shape and form intended for it by Allah.