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How is the inheritance of a deceased divorced woman distributed, who has no children, and has a deceased brother (one son and two daughters), a deceased sister (four sons and one daughter), and a living sister?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the deceased's heirs are limited to her living sister and her male nephew, then the sister inherits half of the wealth by فرض (fixed share), based on the Almighty's saying: "They ask you for a ruling. Say, 'Allah gives you a ruling concerning al-kalalah (one who has neither parents nor children): If a man dies, leaving no child but a sister, she will have half of what he leaves.'" The remainder after the sister's fixed share (the other half) goes to the nephew by تعصيب (residuary inheritance), based on the Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) saying: "Give the fixed shares to their rightful recipients, and whatever remains goes to the closest male."

It must be noted that inheritance matters are serious and complex. It is not permissible to rely solely on a fatwa; rather, they must be referred to Sharia courts for investigation, as there might be other heirs, wills, or debts that take precedence over the heirs' rights.

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

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