Laws of Inheritance (Al-Faraa'id)

Qutaybah ibn Said narrated to us; Sufyan narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, who heard Jabir ibn Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) say: I became ill, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Abu Bakr came to visit me on foot. They came while I was unconscious. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed ablution and poured its water over me, and I regained consciousness. I said: O Messenger of Allah, what should I do with my wealth? How should I dispose of it? He did not answer me about anything until the inheritance verse was revealed.

Musa ibn Ismail narrated to us; Wuhayb narrated to us; Ibn Tawus narrated to us, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the falsest of speech. Do not seek out people’s faults, do not spy, do not hate one another, do not turn your backs on one another; rather, be brothers, servants of Allah.

Abdullah ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Hisham narrated to us; Mamar informed us, from al-Zuhri, from Urwah, from Aishah, that Fatimah and al-Abbas (peace be upon them) came to Abu Bakr seeking their inheritance from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. At that time, they were seeking their lands at Fadak and their shares at Khaybar. Abu Bakr said to them: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: We are not inherited from; whatever we leave is charity. The family of Muhammad only eat from this property. Abu Bakr said: By Allah, I will not abandon anything I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do with it; I will do the same. Aishah said: Fatimah shunned him and did not speak to him until she died.

Ismail ibn Aban narrated to us; Ibn al-Mubarak informed us, from Yunus, from al-Zuhri, from Urwah, from Aishah, that the Prophet ﷺ said: We are not inherited from; whatever we leave is charity.

Yahya ibn Bukayr narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us, from Uqayl, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Malik ibn Aws ibn al-Hadathan informed me—and Muhammad ibn Jubayr ibn Mutim had told me something of this report, so I went to him and asked him. He said: I went to see Umar. His doorkeeper Yarfa came to him and said: Would you admit Uthman, Abd al-Rahman, al-Zubayr, and Sad? He said: Yes. He admitted them, then asked: Would you admit Ali and al-Abbas? He said: Yes. Al-Abbas said: Commander of the Faithful, judge between me and this man. Umar said: I adjure you by Allah, by whose permission the heavens and earth stand: Do you know that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, We are not inherited from; whatever we leave is charity? He meant the Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself. The group said: He did say that. Umar turned to Ali and al-Abbas and asked: Do you know that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said this? They said: He did. Umar said: I will tell you about this matter. Allah had granted His Messenger ﷺ a special share of this fay property that He had given to no one else. The Exalted said: Whatever Allah has granted His Messenger from the people of the towns… until the words, All-Powerful. It belonged exclusively to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. By Allah, he did not keep it away from you or reserve it for himself instead of you; he gave it to you and distributed it among you, until this property remained. The Prophet ﷺ used it to provide his family’s expenses for a year, then gave what remained the disposition of the public treasury. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did this throughout his life. I adjure you by Allah: Do you know this? They said: Yes. He then said to Ali and al-Abbas: I adjure you both by Allah: Do you know this? They said: Yes. When Allah took His Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr said: I am the guardian of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he took charge of it and managed it as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had. Then Allah took Abu Bakr, and I said: I am the guardian of the guardian of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I took charge of it for two years and managed it as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Abu Bakr had. Then the two of you came to me, united in your words and your purpose. You came asking me for your share from your nephew, and this one came asking me for his wife’s share from her father. I said: If you wish, I will hand it over to you on those terms. Yet you are asking me to make a different ruling. By Allah, by whose permission the heavens and earth stand, I will make no ruling about it other than this until the Hour is established. If you are unable to manage it, then return it to me, and I will take care of it for you.

Ismail narrated to us, saying: Malik narrated to me, from Abu al-Zinad, from al-Araj, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: My heirs will not divide even a dinar. Whatever I leave after the expenses of my wives and the costs of my agent is charity.

Abdullah ibn Maslamah narrated to us, from Malik, from Ibn Shihab, from Urwah, from Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ died, his wives wanted to send Uthman to Abu Bakr to ask him for their inheritance. Aishah said: Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ not say: We are not inherited from; whatever we leave is charity?

Abdan narrated to us; Abdullah informed us; Yunus informed us, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Abu Salamah narrated to me, from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: I have a greater claim over the believers than they have over themselves. Whoever dies owing a debt and leaves nothing to repay it, we will repay it for him. Whoever leaves wealth, it belongs to his heirs.

Musa ibn Ismail narrated to us; Wuhayb narrated to us; Ibn Tawus narrated to us, from his father, from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: Give the prescribed shares of inheritance to those entitled to them; whatever remains goes to the closest male relative.

Al-Humaydi narrated to us; Sufyan narrated to us; al-Zuhri narrated to us, saying: Amir ibn Sad ibn Abi Waqqas informed me, from his father, who said: I fell seriously ill in Mecca and came close to death. The Prophet ﷺ came to visit me. I said: O Messenger of Allah, I have a great deal of wealth, and only my daughter will inherit from me. May I give two-thirds of my wealth in charity? He said: No. I said: Then half? He said: No. I said: One-third? He said: One-third is a lot. It is better for you to leave your children well-off than to leave them dependent, holding out their hands to people. You will be rewarded for every expenditure you make, even the morsel you raise to your wife’s mouth. I said: O Messenger of Allah, will I be left behind after my companions? He said: You will not be left behind and then do a deed seeking Allah’s pleasure without your rank and degree being increased by it. Perhaps you will be left behind after me, so that some people benefit through you and others are harmed by you. But poor Sad ibn Khawlah—the Messenger of Allah ﷺ grieved for him because he died in Mecca. Sufyan said: Sad ibn Khawlah was a man from Banu Amir ibn Luayy.

Mahmud narrated to me; Abu al-Nadr narrated to us; Abu Muawiyah narrated to us; Shayban narrated to us, from Ashath, from al-Aswad ibn Yazid, who said: Muadh ibn Jabal came to us in Yemen as a teacher and governor. We asked him about a man who died leaving a daughter and a sister. He gave half to the daughter and half to the sister.

Muslim ibn Ibrahim narrated to us; Wuhayb narrated to us; Ibn Tawus narrated to us, from his father, from Ibn Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Give the prescribed shares of inheritance to those entitled to them; whatever remains goes to the closest male relative.

Adam narrated to us; Shubah narrated to us; Abu Qays narrated to us: I heard Hudhayl ibn Shurahbil say: Abu Musa was asked about a daughter, a son’s daughter, and a sister. He said: The daughter gets half and the sister gets half. Go to Ibn Masud; he will agree with me. Ibn Masud was asked and told what Abu Musa had said. He replied: Then I would be astray and not among the guided! I will judge in this case according to the Prophet’s ruling: The daughter gets half, the son’s daughter gets one-sixth to complete two-thirds, and what remains goes to the sister. We went to Abu Musa and told him Ibn Masud’s ruling. He said: Do not ask me anything while this learned man is among you.

Sulayman ibn Harb narrated to us; Wuhayb narrated to us, from Ibn Tawus, from his father, from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: Give the prescribed shares of inheritance to those entitled to them; whatever remains goes to the closest male relative.

Abu Mamr narrated to us; Abd al-Warith narrated to us; Ayyub narrated to us, from Ikrimah, from Ibn Abbas, who said: As for the one about whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, If I were to take an intimate friend from this community, I would take him—but the bond of Islam is better; or he said, superior—he assigned him the status of a father; or he said, he decreed him to be a father. The final wording is unclear in the source.

Muhammad ibn Yusuf narrated to us, from Warqa, from Ibn Abi Najih, from Ata, from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: Wealth used to belong to children, and bequests were for parents. Then Allah abrogated what He willed of that, assigning the male the share of two females; giving each parent one-sixth; giving the wife one-eighth or one-quarter; and giving the husband one-half or one-quarter.

Qutaybah narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us, from Ibn Shihab, from Ibn al-Musayyab, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ruled that the compensation for the fetus of a woman from Banu Lihyan, who was miscarried dead, was a male or female slave. Then the woman against whom the compensation had been ruled died, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ruled that her inheritance belonged to her children and husband, and that the blood compensation was the responsibility of her paternal relatives.

Bishr ibn Khalid narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Jafar narrated to us, from Shubah, from Sulayman, from Ibrahim, from al-Aswad, who said: During the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Muadh ibn Jabal ruled among us that the daughter would receive half and the sister half. Sulayman then said: He ruled among us, without mentioning during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Amr ibn Abbas narrated to me; Abd al-Rahman narrated to us; Sufyan narrated to us, from Abu Qays, from Hudhayl, who said: Abdullah said: I will surely rule in this case according to the Prophet’s ruling—or he said, the Prophet ﷺ said: The daughter receives half, the son’s daughter one-sixth, and what remains goes to the sister.