Can a Man Bequeath His Entire Property to His Brother in Islam?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Can a man bequeath all his property to his brother or nephew if he has children, or is he limited to one-third in his will?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
In principle, as mentioned in the Quran, children will always inherit from their parents. Allah determines and decrees the portion of inheritance attributed to each heir. An heir becomes the rightful owner of their share upon the passing of a family member.
Consequently, the deceased’s children are entitled to inherit from their father’s estate; even if there is estrangement, this does not deprive them of their inheritance.
A will is valid only for non-heirs, not for heirs. In your case, a father can gift his estate or part of it during his lifetime, but as an Islamic will, this is invalid.
Islamically, one can gift anyone during their lifetime. Such gifts do not count as part of one’s estate and belong to the recipient. However, gifting to deprive heirs after death is impermissible. While the gift may be valid, the giver would be sinful. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
As it is a sensitive inheritance matter, we urge you to consult reliable local scholars who are well-versed in inheritance and family dynamics.
Please also see: Dividing an Estate for Inheritance and: Inheritance Laws: Can I Stipulate Other Than the Determined Amounts Mentioned in the Quran?
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received a traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Presently, he lives in the UK with his wife and is interested in books and gardening.
