How Should Inheritors Deal With a Charitable Donation From the Deceased?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

My friend is a single mother and has five daughters. The only asset she has is her home. She understands that one third must be given to charity but as she only has a house which is the roof over her daughters’ heads, she wants to know how should she divide this asset in her will. Will her daughters need to sell the house to pay the one third to charity on her death?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

It is not obligatory to make a charitable donation (sadaqa) with one third of the estate. Rather, the person making the will (wasiyya) can choose to do something with this amount of their wealth alone, and not the rest.

When asked about leaving a charitable donation of a third of one’s wealth, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) stated, “One third is a huge amount.” [Bukhari] The scholars therefore state that if you are going to give something away, give less than a third. And if there isn’t much in the estate to begin with, or the inheritors are generally poorer, leaving more, or even the entire estate, for them is superior.

Thereafter, the lady in question should specify in her will that her estate is to be distributed according to the rules of inheritance as per Islamic Law. Moreover, she should strive to have this legalised in her country of residence so that it is recognised by the state.

Note that children aren’t the only inheritors of one’s estate; and the specifics of who will inherit will be determined after death. It is normally useful to involve a scholar when the distribution is about to take place to ensure that all inheritors receive their full portion of the estate.

[Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar ‘ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar (5.417); Usmani, Takmilat Fath al-Mulhim (2.64)]

Please also see: Inheritance Laws: Can I Stipulate Other Than the Determined Amounts Mentioned in the Qur’an? and: Dividing an Estate for Inheritance

And Allah Most High knows best.

wassalam,
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.