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Does the divorced wife inherit from her deceased husband, and is it permissible for the daughters to claim their right to the inheritance?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Girls have the right to inheritance, based on the verse: {For men is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, and for women is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, be it little or much - an obligatory share}.

Regarding the divorced wife: if she was divorced with a revocable divorce (ṭalāq rajʿī) and her husband died before the expiration of her waiting period (ʿiddah), she inherits from him by agreement of the scholars. However, if he divorced her with an irrevocable divorce (ṭalāq bāʾin) while she was in good health, or with a revocable divorce and her waiting period expired, she does not inherit from him.

If the divorce was irrevocable during a death illness (maraḍ al-mawt), scholars have differed regarding her inheritance. Some inherit her absolutely, some inherit her as long as she has not remarried, and some do not inherit her at all.

Therefore, a divorced woman has three scenarios: she inherits in some by agreement, she does not inherit in some by agreement, and there is disagreement regarding her inheritance in some.

If the divorced woman does not inherit, the inheritance is divided among the children - males and females - with the male receiving the equivalent of the share of two females. If the divorced woman inherits, she receives one-eighth due to the existence of a inheriting offspring, and the remainder is divided among the children, with the male receiving the equivalent of the share of two females.

Finally, it is recommended to refer matters related to inheritances to the Sharia courts.

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

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