IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL
BEING THE SECOND KHUTBAH FOR THE MONTH OF SHAWWAL, DATED 10TH SHAWWAL 1445AH (19TH APRIL, 2024CE)
TITLED: INHERITANCE IN ISLAM AND THE NECESSITY OF ITS IMPLEMENTATION
THE FIRST SERMON
All praise is due to Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful, who created mankind to worship Him, revealed His signs to them to unify them, bestowed His blessings upon them for them to be grateful, and sent to them messengers with clear guidance, giving glad tidings and warnings. I praise Him, glorified and exalted be He, with abundant and blessed praise. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without any partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, may Allah bless him, his family and companions abundantly.
To proceed:
I advise you all to fear Allah, as it is a divine command directed to His believing servants: (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقاتِهِ وَلا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَاّ وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ (102) وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعاً وَلا تَفَرَّقُوا وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنْتُمْ أَعْداءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُمْ بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْواناً وَكُنْتُمْ عَلى شَفا حُفْرَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ فَأَنْقَذَكُمْ مِنْها كَذلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آياتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ (103)) “O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him]. And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you – when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided.” (Surah Al-Imran:102-103).
The subject of our sermon this is: Inheritance in Islam and the Necessity of its Implementation.
Islam has come with laws that regulate and organize the issue of inheritance, safeguarding the rights of the rightful heirs even if they are weak and unable to claim them, such as children, women, and others.
One of the wisdoms behind imposing inheritance laws is also to prevent disputes among the deceased’s relatives. Below, we will present a comprehensive guide to the laws of inheritance, their principles, and how to divide estate properties in various situations.
Meaning of Inheritance:
All the regulations governing the distribution of the deceased’s estate fall under the category of the science of inheritance. The Quran has used the term “obligation” to refer to the share allocated to individuals from the inheritance, as stated by Allah Almighty in Surah Al-Baqarah: (فَنِصْفُ مَا فَرَضْتُمْ) “then (give) have of what you specified” meaning, whatever you have specified. The term “obligation” is derived from “obligation,” meaning estimation. Therefore, some refer to the science of inheritance as the science of “obligations,” referring to estates. As known, estate, encompasses all the wealth left by the deceased in its various forms.
Legislation of Inheritance:
Since the preservation of wealth and life is among the primary objectives of Islamic law, legislation of inheritance has been introduced to ensure the rights in the deceased’s estate so that the deceased’s wealth does not go to someone who would dare to seize it by force.
This legislation aims to prevent disputes among people and to prevent wealth from becoming a booty for those who possess power and tyranny. The Shariah has not left the deceased’s wealth without a rightful owner, safeguarding the interests of the servants and their wealth, which they use during their lives.
And the Sharia reassured the relatives of the deceased about the fate of their loved ones’ wealth, allocating a predetermined share to each of them. When a Muslim dies, the destiny of his wealth becomes clear by distributing it among his relatives with justice, prioritizing the closest kin, such as children, parents, and those next in line in the degree of kinship.
Rights obligatory to be fulfilled from the Inheritance:
Allah has commanded the division of the estate among the rightful heirs, also known as primary beneficiaries or residual beneficiaries, as we will explain later. However, Sharia has specified rights obligatory to fulfill from the inheritance before distributing it to its deserving recipients, which are as follows:
The First Right: Preparing the deceased, meaning providing what is needed for the burial of the deceased according to Islamic law, including the shroud, washing, and burial.
The Second Right: Settling the debts of the deceased if any exist, and those debts should be settled before executing the will.
The Third Right: Before distributing the estate and after settling the debts, is to execute the legitimate will of the deceased, which includes only one-third of the estate. The will refers to the money that a person specifies before his death to go to specific individuals.
Conditions of Inheritance:
Jurists have specified three conditions for inheritance, detailed as follows:
The first condition, by nature, is the actual death of the testator. This means verifying the death through witnessing, the testimony of two just witnesses, or by legal declaration of death of the testator. This applies in the case of a missing person if the specified period for searching for them has passed.
The second condition is affirming the life of the heir after the death of the deceased, even if the life of the heir extends for a moment. Verification of the life of the heir should be actual, or by legal declaration. For example, where the heir is a fetus.
Jurists clarify that in the case where the heir is a fetus, inheritance can only occur if two conditions are met: first, the presence of pregnancy within the womb, even if it is just a sperm, at the time of the testator’s death, and the second condition is the fetus being born alive in a stable condition.
The third condition of inheritance is the knowledge of qualifying reason for the inheritance. The inheritance must be based on qualities such as paternity, marriage, allegiance, and so on.
Causes of Inheritance:
The Sharia has specified three causes of inheritance, which are as follows:
The first cause is marriage, meaning the legitimate marriage between a man and a woman. Allah Almighty detailed in Surah An-Nisa the share of spouses from each other’s estate, which we will discuss later.
The Second Cause: Blood Lineage or kinship between two individuals, whether close or distant. Here, kinship is divided into three categories: the roots, referring to the parents and their ancestors, even if they are distant; the branches, referring to the children and their descendants, even if they are descended; and the peripherals, referring to siblings and their children, uncles, and their children.
The Third Cause: Allegiance or Association bond, which existed in the era of slavery. When a master set free his slave, a bond called allegiance is formed between them, acknowledging the master’s favor. According to this allegiance, the freed slave inherits the master who manumitted him. However, the slave does not inherit anything from his master, even if the master has no other heirs.
Pillars of Inheritance:
The Sharia has identified three pillars that are indispensable for the completion of the inheritance process:
The Testator, referring to the deceased person who owns the wealth that will be transferred, which is the estate, to the heirs, who are the rightful owners after him.
The Heir, referring to the person entitled to the deceased’s wealth, with whom a relationship is established as previously explained.
The Estate, which is the wealth left behind by the deceased, whether it is in the form of cash, real estate, businesses, or the like.
THE SECOND SERMON
All praise is due to Allah, whose hearing encompasses all things. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, may Allah bless him, his family and companions abundantly.
To proceed:
Additionally, there are obstacles that prevent inheritance. Jurists have mentioned three impediments that hinder inheritance, which are as follows:
The First Impediment: Difference in religion, meaning that it is not permissible for a Muslim to inherit from a non-Muslim, and vice versa. Therefore, a non-Muslim does not have a share in the estate of a Muslim.
The Second Impediment: Slavery, meaning that a slave does not inherit from his master, as all the property of the slave belongs to the master by default.
The Third Impediment: Homicide, where Sharia prohibits the killer from inheriting from the victim, regardless of whether the killing was intentional or accidental. However, some jurists argue that accidental killing does not constitute an impediment to inheritance.
Palestine:
Supporting Palestinian resistance is a religious duty upon Muslims, in addition to being an ethical obligation for humanity.”
The Iranian president emphasized that his country seeks to utilize all available resources to defend the oppressed in Palestine, pledging to take effective and practical steps to halt the “crimes of the Zionists” and alleviate the suffering and persecution endured by the Palestinian people.
Furthermore, on Saturday (April 13), the Iranian army indeed targeted the Zionist entity with its raining missiles in response to the Zionist’s crime of bombing its consulate in Damascus, which resulted in the killing of several Iranian military leaders. This response constitutes the first direct military retaliation in its history against Israeli aggression, sending terrifying repercussions worldwide and particularly to the Zionist government regarding Iran’s military capabilities and capacities. There is significant concern from various international bodies to prevent the escalation of attacks.
Servants of Allah, Allah Almighty says, and He is the most truthful in speech: (وَأَعِدُّوا لَهُمْ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ قُوَّةٍ وَمِنْ رِباطِ الْخَيْلِ) “And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war.” (Surah Al-Anfal: 60). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Indeed, power lies in (ability of) shooting, indeed, power lies in (ability of) shooting” (Muslim). He also said: “Shoot and ride, and shooting is better than riding.” (Abu Dawood, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah).
Wahbah Az-Zuhayli, in his interpretation of the verse, said: Allah commands the nations of believers to be equipped with appropriate weaponry relevant with every era, and to prepare combatant army at the highest levels because the army is the shield and stronghold of the nation. This is based on the energy, capabilities, and ability. Then, the verse mentions the reason for preparation and its goal, which is to deter the enemies of Allah and the enemies of the Muslim nations among the disbelievers, whose enmity has been revealed like the polytheists of Makkah in the past, and to deter the hidden enemy allied with these enemies, whether known or unknown, but Allah knows them because He is the Knower of the unseen. This includes the Jews, the hypocrites in the past, and those who have shown hostility since then, such as the Persians, the Romans, and their descendants in the countries of the contemporary world.
Az-Zuhayli added: Without appropriate war capabilities in every era, peace cannot be guaranteed, for preserving peace, as it is known, both conventionally and rationally, can only be achieved through being equipped with modern war capabilities which obviously serve as deterrent.
SUPPLICATION: O Allah, aid our brothers in Palestine and aid the oppressed everywhere. O Allah, release the Muslim captives in Palestine and guide their steps. O Allah, liberate Palestine and Al-Aqsa Mosque from the plots of the aggressors. Be a support to our brothers in Palestine, O Allah. Grant them victory, strength, and patience. Bind their hearts together and shower them with Your mercy. Heal their wounds, cure their illnesses, and accept their deceased. O Allah, return their captive youths to them. O Lord, O Allah, free Al-Aqsa Mosque from the defilement of the usurping Zionist aggressors. Grant the people of Palestine steadfastness, victory, and empowerment.
“O Allah, show us the truth as true and grant us the ability to follow it, and show us falsehood as false and grant us the ability to avoid it. Do not make it confusing for us, lest we go astray and suffer. O Allah, secure us in our homelands and protect our brethren who are striving in every place. Be with them, not against them. Release the prisoners among them with Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the Merciful. O Allah, forgive our parents, our elders, and all living and deceased Muslims. You are the Hearer of prayers, worthy of answering, capable of doing so. Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and all his companions.”