Difference between Shia and Sunni Succession Law.

Question: Difference between Shia and Sunni Succession Law. [UPJS 2016]

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Answer

Succession law in Sunni

The Hanafi law of inheritance only applies to male relatives who may be related to the deceased person. Each heir owns the land in its own right, with a certain share of the estate. The heirs of inheritance are divided into three groups according to Sunni law:

Quota Heirs

They receive an assigned share of the state and are usually first in line. Daughters, parents, grandparents, spouses, brothers and sisters, and others are included.

Residuary Heirs

After the shares have been allocated to Quota-heirs, the residuary is inherited property. They may include both male and female family members from the second line of descent. When a person has no immediate relatives, the state inherits their property.

Succession Law in Shia

Shia Law separates heirs into two groups: those who are related by blood (consanguinity) and those who are related by marriage (affinity). Nasab refers to heirs by consanguinity, while Sabab refers to heirs by affinity.

A further classification is made into three categories based on blood ties:

1. Parents, children, and other lineal descendants are classified as (Class 1).

2. Grandparents, brothers and sisters, and their descendants are in (Class 2).

3. Uncles and aunts (both paternal and maternal) and their offspring (Class 3).

There is no distinction between male and female heirs in these three groups, except a male heir will have twice as much as a female heir. In contrast, the Sunni law of inheritance excludes daughters.

There is no preference in Shia Law for the third class of legal heirs because of paternal or maternal ties to the deceased. They shall share in the inheritance regardless of their gender or origin of relationship to the deceased as long as they are at the same degree of relationship.

Difference between Shai and Sunni Law

• Shia law treats cognates and agnates equally when it comes to inheritance. Sunni law favours close kinship over distant kinship.
  
• According to Shia law, class I heirs completely exclude class II and III heirs, while class II heirs completely exclude class three. The remoter is excluded from class III nears degree.
  
• The doctrine of representation is not taken into account in both Shia and Sunni law. It is not possible for a person to inherit in the place of his or her father or mother. It is used in Shia law to determine the quantum of a person's share, while it is not used at all in Sunni law.
  
• A daughter's daughter, as a uterine related, has no claim to inherit the property in Sunni law. She only receives it once all of the heirs have exhausted themselves. In Shia law, a daughter's daughter has the right to inherit her mother's portion.
  
• When a son's children cohabit with a daughter's children, the son's children are entitled to 2/3rds of the property, while the daughter's children are entitled to 1/3rd of the property under Shia law. As long as the sharers and reliquaries remain depleted, the daughter's children are not entitled to a share under Sunni law.
  
• The notion of primogeniture is partially accepted in Shia law, with the eldest son inheriting the sabre, Quran, and other vestments of his deceased father. Sunni law does not recognize it.
  
• Under Shia law, the property between a half-brother by the same mother and the son of a full brother goes to the half-brother, whereas under Sunni law, the half-brother only gets 1/6th of the property and the rest goes to the full brother's son.
  
• Under Shia law, paternal uncles receive double the shares as aunts, however, under Sunni law, the paternal uncles receive the entire estate and the aunts receive nothing.
  
• The allocation of property is done according to per-stripe in Shia law and per-capita in Sunni law.
  
• Females, regardless of how far away from the son they are, can inherit property with him under Shia law. Under Sunni law, the situation is the polar opposite.
  
• Under Shia Law, if a woman gets divorced by her husband during his illness and he subsequently dies of the disease, the woman will retain her inheritance right for one year, whereas under Sunni Law, the woman will retain her inheritance right till the end of her probation period.
  
• If a non-Muslim dies and leaves behind a Muslim and a non-Muslim heir, the Muslim heir will be given preference over the non-Muslim successor, despite the fact that the Muslim heir is distant in degree, whilst non-Muslims have no right to inherit under Sunni Law.
  
• The doctrine of increase only applies to the daughter and sister in Shia law, whereas it applies to all sharers under Sunni law.
  
• Only purposeful murderers are barred from inheriting property under Shia law, whereas everyone accused of murder is barred under Sunni law.
  
• In the case of an illegitimate child, Shia law bans the kid from inheriting both the father's and mother's property, whereas Sunni law allows the illegitimate child to inherit only the mother's property. These heirs-father, mother, husband, and wife-are never excluded from the succession under Shia or Sunni law.

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