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How is the inheritance of a deceased woman (T) and a deceased man (M) distributed, taking into account the sequence of deaths and the complex family relationships between the spouses and their children from different marriages? Does the share of an heir change if they die after their father? And what is the Shariah ruling in the case of preparing an incomplete inventory of inheritance or if one of the heirs sells the inheritance unjustly?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

This issue is considered one of the complex inheritance matters that Islamic inheritance scholars call "Munasakha" (successive inheritance). Its distribution is done by simplifying it and dividing the inheritance of each deceased person separately.

First: The inheritance of the woman (T) is divided among her husband (M) and her two children (K, L, N). The husband receives one-fourth, and the remainder is for the son and the two daughters, with the male receiving the share of two females.

Second: The inheritance of the man (M) is divided among his wife (S) and his children (A, N, Alif). The wife receives one-eighth, and the remainder is for the children, with the male receiving the share of two females. The son (A) inherits from his father even if he dies before the inheritance is distributed.

Third: The inheritance of the son (A) is divided among his mother (S), his full sister (Alif), his paternal half-sister (N), and his paternal uncles. The mother receives one-sixth, the full sister receives one-half, the paternal half-sister receives one-sixth, and the remainder is for the paternal uncles according to their degree, with nothing for the paternal aunts.

The inheritance must be distributed according to Allah's limits, and whoever transgresses them will enter a Fire wherein he will abide eternally. It is not permissible to take a Muslim's property except with his good will. And whoever has wronged his brother should seek his forgiveness. The matter of inheritance is serious and complex, and it cannot be resolved by a fatwa alone; rather, it must be referred to the Sharia courts for investigation and to ensure the rights of all.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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