Discuss the grounds of exclusion from inheritance under the Muslim Law.

Question: Discuss the grounds of exclusion from inheritance under the Muslim Law. [UPJS 2018]

Find the question and answer of Muslim Law only on Legal Bites. [Discuss the grounds of exclusion from inheritance under the Muslim Law.]

Answer

Unless he or she is prohibited from inheritance by any exclusionary rule, every heir has the right to inherit property. According to Islamic law, an heir is not eligible to inherit the property if any of the following conditions apply.

However, inheritance is not deemed to be barred by insanity, a lack of chastity, or any physical defect. Incompetent people, insane people, and adulterous women are all qualified to inherit property.

(a) Homicide

A person, who causes the death of another, is disqualified from inheriting the properties of the said deceased. It is a rule of common prudence that law cannot allow a person to derive benefits out of his own wrongs.

Under Hanafi law, an heir who causes the death either intentionally or negligently is a disqualified heir or cannot inherit the properties of the deceased. Thus, even if the death is caused due to the negligent or accidental act of an heir, the heir is debarred from inheritance.

Shia Law:

Under the Ithna Asharia law, an heir is excluded from inheritance only where the death is caused intentionally. If the death is caused accidentally or negligently, the Ithna Asharia heir is not debarred from inheritance.

(b) Illegitimacy

Illegitimate children are not permitted to inherit their father's assets, according to Sunni law. However, an illegitimate person is capable of inheriting the mother's assets. It should be emphasized that an illegitimate kid has the right to inherit not only the mother's assets but also those of the mother's other family members through her. In the case of Bafatun v. Bilaiti Khanum, (1903) I.L.R. 30 Cal. 683, the only surviving heirs of a Sunni woman were her husband and an illegitimate son of her sister.

Her husband took half of her assets, while the other half went to her sister's son, the only other distant relative of the deceased. The court ruled that under Sunni law, an illegitimate son was qualified to inherit not only his mother but also, through his mother, the assets of his mother's sister. An illegitimate child, however, is not entitled to inherit from mothers who became relatives through any later remarriage of the said mother.

(c) Difference in Religion

According to Islamic teachings, a non-Muslim is not permitted to inherit a Muslim's property. But under Muslim law, as it is applied in India, a person's choice of religion does not bar them from inheriting property.

A Muslim decedent's legal heir cannot be denied inheritance because they were not Muslims at the time of the decedent's passing. The Caste Disabilities Removal Act, of 1850 states that a person's right to inherit under the personal law to which they belonged prior to conversion is unaffected by his or her decision to renounce their religion.

A converted heir will therefore continue to be subject to Islamic inheritance law. The example that follows will make this rule clear. A Muslim has a daughter and a son. The son gives up Islam and becomes a Christian.

The son is a Christian at the time of the father's passing when the inheritance becomes available, but the daughter is still a Muslim. The non-Muslim son is eligible to inherit the family assets alongside his Muslim sister and is not disqualified from doing so.

However, because the possessions pass under the personal law to which the propositus belonged shortly before his death, it should be highlighted that the religion of the porosities, or deceased, is a significant element. For instance, under Muslim law, the descendants of a Hindu who converts to Islam and passes away as a Muslim would receive the Hindu's property, but under Hindu law, the heirs would not be entitled to an inheritance.

In K.P. Chandrashekhar v. Govt. of Mysore, AIR 1955 Kant 26, a Hindu woman converted to Islam died as a Muslim. She had no heir under Muslim law. Her Hindu brother claimed inheritance. It was held by the court that her Hindu brother could not inherit because he was not an heir under Muslim law.

(d) Exclusion of Daughters under Custom or Statute

In some places, daughters may occasionally be barred from inheriting due to a local custom or a special law. For instance, there is a tradition that daughters cannot inherit in the presence of any male descendent of the grandfather among the Gujars and Backkerwals of Kashmir. A daughter is also barred from inheriting in the presence of a paternal uncle under Bombay's Watan Act of 1886.

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