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Does the plot of land that the grandfather verbally allocated to his two daughters fall within the inheritance, and what is the ruling concerning the land he gave to his sons to build upon without a written document?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

First: Disputes between heirs are to be brought before the Sharia court or scholars (Ahl al-Ilm) to hear all parties and determine the rightful claimant.

Second: If the father gave land to one of his sons for construction without an explicit gift (hiba), it is a loan (ariya) that terminates upon his death, and the land reverts to the heirs, who must compensate the son for the value of the construction.

Third: The father's statement that the land is for the daughters after his death is considered a bequest to an heir (wasiyya li-warith), which is prohibited by Sharia and not binding. The decision to execute or revoke it rests with the heirs. If it was a gift (hiba) during his lifetime, but the father died before the daughters took possession of it, it becomes an inheritance (tarika) to be divided among the heirs.

Fourth: If the land and house are registered in your grandfather's name, then whoever claims ownership of them must provide Sharia-compliant evidence (bayyina shar'iyya), because the original ownership (al-asl milkīyatuhu) belongs to him.

Fifth: If the sons utilized the inheritance lands without the daughters' permission, then if it was with their consent, there is no issue. Otherwise, it is an impermissible act, and the matter reverts to the Sharia judiciary to determine whether they must compensate the daughters.

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

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