Protection of heirs’ rights

Protection of heirs’ rights

According to Islamic law, when someone dies, his or her closest family members are entitled to get stipulated portions of the  inheritance (wealth and property of a deceased person). Islam does not allow a person to allocate in the will more than one third of his her wealth for charity or donation purposes. This is to protect the inheritors’ rights and ensure fair distribution of the inheritance among all of them.

Muhammad visited one of his companions who recovered from an illness. The man said he owned a great wealth and he had only one daughter as an heir (inheritor). He asked Muhammad if he could leave two-thirds of his wealth as charity. Muhammad said: "No". said: "No". The man aked about one-third? Muhammad said: "One-third (agreeing) and one-than leaving them poor asking for help."