A standard estate plan includes a Will, a healthcare directive/living will, and a durable power of attorney. A will is not complicated or expensive. You do not need to be rich to have a will. Even if you have...
Read More
An Islamic will covers everything that a secular will covers, including: Appointing an executor to distribute your estate and manage your affairs after death; Appointing a guardian to care for your children and manage their inheritance until...
Read More
If you do not have any surviving Islamic heirs, many Muslim scholars in the United States have advised that leaving a bequest to a Muslim charity and leaving the balance of your estate to a non-Islamic heir family member...
Read More
Let me provide some background. Sharī‘a divides the Islamic heirs or Islamic beneficiaries of your estate into three categories: Qur’anic heirs (ahl al-fara’id). Qur’anic heirs take a predetermined share—either one-half, one-quarter, one-eighth, two-thirds, one-third, or one-sixth. They are: Four...
Read More
Yes. A surviving spouse would take her prescribed share from the estate. A wife’s Islamic inheritance share would be 1/4 (or 1/8 if the husband had children) of her husband's net estate. A husband’s Islamic inheritance share would be...
Read More
This is a very common concern among American Muslims. Thankfully, the Sharī‘a offers solutions to protect your wife’s financial security if you predecease her. First, you are free to gift her property and/or money during your lifetime. This is...
Read More
The Sharī‘a is anchored in divine justice and equity. There are several solutions to protect a wife's financial security by accounting for her financial and non-financial contributions to the marriage. First, Muslim scholars agree that a husband is free...
Read More
In pre-Islamic Arabia, only males inherited. This was changed by the divine message carried by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). When the companion Aws Ibn Thabit passed away, he was survived by a wife, three daughters, and two nephews. Consistent...
Read More
First, it is important to note that unlike American state law, a valid marriage under Sharī‘a has minimal requirements: oral marriages and polygamy are valid. Islamic public policy favors legitimacy rather than illegitimacy. With that in mind, according to...
Read More
Strictly speaking, yes. Some would consider this a transfer during lifetime, so it would not violate Sharī‘a. Others would argue that because the transfer is effective upon death, it would be an invalid lifetime transfer according to the Sharī‘a. However,...
Read More
