Before a single rupiah is divided up as inheritance, four other claims must be settled first — and before a single name is entered on the list of heirs, it must pass through the filter of causes and impediments. at-Tahqiqat al-Mardhiyyah opens with this same order.
Five claims on the estate, in order
- Claims attached to the property itself — e.g. an item held as collateral: settling the pledge takes priority over everything else.
- Funeral costs — washing, shrouding, burial, sufficient without excess.
- Debts — owed to Allah (unpaid zakat, kaffarah) as well as owed to people.
- Bequest — at most 1/3 of the estate, and not to an heir (“there is no bequest to an heir” — Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi; sahih); anything beyond that, or a bequest to an heir, only proceeds with the consent of all the heirs.
- Inheritance — only now the actual subject of this science.
Skipping this order (dividing the estate before debts are paid) is the most common mistake in the field, and it turns even the most elegant distribution into an injustice.
Pillars and conditions
Three pillars: the muwarrith (the one who leaves the estate), the warith (the one who inherits), and the mawruth/tirkah (the property). Three conditions: certainty of the muwarrith’s death; certainty that the warith was alive at that moment (even for an instant — this is where the rules on an unborn child and simultaneous-disaster victims come from, chapter 09); and a clear line of kinship.
Causes of inheritance (3) and impediments (3)
flowchart LR
classDef sebab fill:#134e4a,stroke:#14b8a6,color:#ccfbf1
classDef bahaya fill:#7f1d1d,stroke:#ef4444,color:#fee2e2
classDef hasil fill:#3b0764,stroke:#a855f7,color:#f3e8ff
A["Cause: MARRIAGE<br/>(valid contract, even without consummation)"]:::sebab --> D{"Any impediment?"}:::bahaya
B["Cause: LINEAGE<br/>(ascendants · descendants · collaterals)"]:::sebab --> D
C["Cause: WALA'<br/>(freeing a slave)"]:::sebab --> D
D -- "killed the muwarrith" --> X1["BLOCKED"]:::bahaya
D -- "different religion" --> X2["BLOCKED"]:::bahaya
D -- "enslavement" --> X3["BLOCKED"]:::bahaya
D -- "clear" --> E["Enters the list of heirs<br/>→ hajb filter (chapter 05)"]:::hasil
- The killer does not inherit from the victim (this closes off using crime to hasten an inheritance).
- Difference of religion: “A Muslim does not inherit from a disbeliever, nor does a disbeliever inherit from a Muslim” (Bukhari 6764, Muslim 1614). The permissible route is a bequest (max 1/3) or a lifetime gift.
- A slave neither inherits nor is inherited from — mentioned here for completeness.
Outside these three causes there is no inheritance: an adopted child and relatives-by-adoption go through a bequest, not inheritance.
Mamnu’ vs. mahjub — tell them apart from the start
Someone rejected due to an impediment (mamnu’) is treated as if they do not exist at all: they block no one. Someone excluded due to hajb (chapter 05) still counts as present: two siblings blocked by the father still reduce the mother’s share from 1/3 to 1/6. Swapping these two around is the single most common source of miscalculation in mixed problems.
Everyone who might potentially inherit
Males (short list): son, son’s son downward, father, paternal grandfather upward, brother (full/paternal half/maternal half), brother’s son (full/paternal half), paternal uncle (full/paternal half), paternal uncle’s son, husband, one who frees a slave. Females: daughter, son’s daughter, mother, grandmother (maternal/paternal), sister (three kinds), wife, one who frees a slave.
Those not on the list (daughter’s child, maternal grandfather, sister’s son, maternal uncle, and all aunts) are dzawil arham — they inherit only when there are no blood-tie ashabul furudh and no ‘ashabah at all (chapter 09).
Sources: at-Tahqiqat al-Mardhiyyah (opening chapter: rights tied to the estate, arkan, shuruth, asbab, mawani’); al-Mulakhkhash al-Fiqhi, Kitab al-Faraidh (Shamela 11811). Full list in 15-references.