Is what we did—paying the tenant a sum to vacate the apartment, and then giving my stepmother and sister their share of the rent that the tenant used to pay—considered a just settlement? And what should we do if the stepmother and sister want to take their share of the house’s inheritance; should the house be appraised with the former tenants still in it, or what? And do they have a right to the new price of the apartment I live in if I sell it at a higher price after vacating it?

An indefinite rental contract is Islamically void, and it is not permissible for the tenant to usurp the leased property based on a void law. Rather, the contract must be terminated, and the property returned to its owner or their heirs. If the owner wishes to lease the property under Sharia-compliant conditions, there is no impediment to leasing it to the original tenant.

As for the apartments inhabited by the two brothers, they are part of the inheritance, and they are only entitled to their Sharia-mandated share therein. The ownership and disposal of these apartments belong to all heirs, and the brothers have no right to monopolize their usufruct. The value of these two apartments must be estimated fairly when dividing the inheritance, as if they were vacant.

The contract for the two apartments inhabited by strangers is also void because it is perpetual and undefined in duration. If the contract is on a monthly basis, it is non-binding on either party, and either party has the right to terminate it. It is not permissible for the tenant to demand a sum of money in exchange for vacating the apartment.

As for what the two brothers paid to reclaim the third apartment, if it was with the knowledge and approval of the other heirs to rectify an injustice, then it is a debt owed by the heirs according to their shares. However, what they did by giving their sister and their stepmother their share of the rent paid by the third occupant is a reduction of their rights. Rather, the obligation was to rent the apartment at its fair market value as if it were vacant, and then pay their shares, unless that was with their consent and their knowledge of their rights and their waiver of some of them, provided that the daughter is an adult and both she and her mother are mature.