Inheritance Law

Dr. Ashraf Muneeb

Sooner or later, you will come into contact with inheritance law. When you inevitably lose someone dear to you, or when you yourself pass away, you’ll need to be prepared to identify heirs and their apportioned inheritance according to Islamic law. If you leave behind children, a spouse, parents, or if you are a sibling, a cousin, a parent, or even a grandparent who has lost a family member, you need to be sure that your rights and the rights of others are fulfilled, because what we owe people, we owe Allah.

Because we don’t encounter inheritance law often, and because it has a reputation of being an overtly mathematical procedure, people don’t think they need to learn it. Some think they’re above inheritance law, or that it doesn’t apply to them and their family.

But inheritance law isn’t about squabbling over pennies. It’s about honoring the deceased: their wishes, their family, and the human connections they’ve made throughout their life. What they leave behind for others is part of their legacy, so ensuring everyone receives what is due is integral to honoring their memory. More importantly, learning and applying inheritance law is part of fulfilling Allah’s command to divide wealth justly.

What does this course offer?

Indeed, there are many misconceptions about the fairness of inheritance law, especially when it comes to the division of wealth between men and women. In this course, Sheikh Ashraf will delve into the details of inheritance law, clarify any misconceptions, and give examples and ample opportunities to practice different inheritance cases and conditions.

This course is for

• Anyone who will die

• Anyone who knows people who will die

• The average person. You don’t need any prerequisites

You don’t need this course if you are:

• Immortal

Why not just use AI

Since its advent, Artificial intelligence has supplanted much of human thought and work. But AI is not flawless. Indeed, it has a very high rate. AI is also notoriously famous for making things up, especially when it can’t find an answer that exactly matches your question. The more you ask it, the more it distorts the truth. And because AI gives answers based on what it “learns” from online sources, it most often uses unverified information on the internet. The answers it provides are limited and superficial. Using Reddit to determine inheritance laws is like taking serious medical advice from Reddit or TikTok. There are also more sinister regimes governing AI that dictate what it answers and to whom. But on a practical level, AI can’t go into the depth and understanding required to flesh out the details of inheritance. It cannot discern all the heirs, or even how to divide the different categories of wealth.

Who the rightful heirs don’t just extend to parents, spouses, and siblings. Islamic law takes into account even further distant relations, such as cousins, step-siblings, half-siblings, and other relations, which differ depending on which heirs remain alive, and even then, the heirs of the heirs come into consideration. AI can’t calculate what is due to all those accurately. This course will give you clear guidance to determining legal heirs and the tools to calculate due inheritance. It offers you the opportunity to present all your questions to the instructor and prepare your own will.

Week at a glance:

Week 1:

• Introduction

• Quranic mandate on inheritance

• Estate rights

• What to do with debts

Week 2:

• Wasiyya

• Distribution of estate rights to remaining relatives

• Categories of relatives

• Fixed shares

Week 3:

• Pillars of inheritance law

• Conditions of inheritance law

• Reasons for inheritance law

• Prohibitions

• Heirs entitled to fixed shares

• Lineage pillar

• Sons and fathers

• Daughters

• Brothers

• maternal siblings

Week 4:

• How to write your will

• Conditions that are a) compulsory, b) preferable, c) permissible, d) unlawful

• What happens in the case of a mortal sickness?

Week 5:

• Husbands and wives

• Fathers

• Grandfather

• Mother

• Denominators

Week 6:

• Daughter

• Full sister

• Paternal sister

• Son’s daughter

• Asaba

• Asaba by oneself

Week 7:

• Exercises

Week 8:

• Rights