State the Koranic heirs under Shia Law of inheritance and distinguish them with Sunni Law of inheritance.

Question: State the Koranic heirs under Shia Law of inheritance and distinguish them with Sunni Law of inheritance. [JJS 2014]

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Answer

Under Shia Law of inheritance, the heirs are divided into two groups, namely,

(i) Heirs by consanguinity i.e. blood relations and (ii) Heirs by marriage i.e. husband and wife.

Heirs by consanguinity are divided into three classes, each sub-divided into two sections. These classes are

(I). (i) Parents, (ii) Children and other lineal descendants how low soever.

(II). (i) Grandparents how high so ever (True as well as False), (ii) Brothers and sisters and their descendants how low so ever.

(III). (i) Paternal and (ii) Maternal, uncles and aunts of the deceased and of his parents and grandparents how high so ever and their descendants how low so ever.

Of these three classes of heirs, the first excludes the second from the inheritance, and the second excludes the third. But the heirs of the two sections of each class succeed together, the nearer degree in each section excluding the more remote in that section.

b. Hanafi (Sunni) Law of Inheritance

Hanafi law of inheritance only focuses on relatives who have descended from a male member who may be in relation to the deceased person. Each heir holds the property separately, holding a definite share in the estate.

The Sunni law classifies the heirs of the inheritance into three groups:

1) Quota Heirs beneficiaries – They take an assigned share of the state and are most first in line. Includes daughters, parents, grandparents, spouses, brothers, sisters, etc.

2) Residuaries – Inherit property after the shares have been distributed in Quota-heirs. They include both male and female members of the family which may be in the second line of the bloodline.

3) When a person has no direct relatives the property goes to the state.

The law also fixes shares for the portion of the estate that the heir is entitled to:

1. The wife is entitled to one-fourth of the share if the couple has no lineal descendent, and one-eighth if they do.

2. Husband takes half the share when there exists no lineal descendent and one-fourth if they do.

3. Sole daughter is entitled to half the property. In the case of more than one daughter, all the daughters jointly get two-thirds of the estate.

4. If both, daughter and son exist then the daughter ceases to be a sharer and becomes a residuary sharer instead. Here, a son is entitled to double what a daughter inherits.

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