According to circumstances affecting the family members, a fara-id member may turn into ‘asabah.
A few examples of fara-id are the wife, the husband, daughter, sister and also the parents and grand father of the deceased. The presence of a son between the daughters brings the children to a first priority ‘Asabah after the fara-id. In the absence of children, then only brothers and sisters may act as ‘Asabah. Stepbrothers and stepsisters may inherit in case there are no brothers and sisters, children or parents.
The general rule for male to female share is 2:1. The inheritance of a single daughter case, where the deceased parents are not alive will be distributed as follows : ½ to the daughter. The rest will go to the ‘asabah. The ‘asabah are divided into groups. In the presence of the first group, then the next group does not receive anything. ‘Asabah groups as per their priority order:
1. Son, grandson, great grandson….
2. Father, grandfather great grandfather….
3. Brother, nephew (brother’s son), nephew’s son… .
4. Uncle (father’s brother), cousin (father’s brother son), cousin’s son…
In case that there are brothers and uncles and no son or father, then the brothers would take the remainder after the fara-id, leaving the uncles with no share. The wife is a fara-id and inherit one eighth of the estate in case she has children. In case there are no children, then she would inherit one quarter of the estate.
In such a case, the rest would go to the brothers and sisters of the deceased. In the presence of children, then after the wife’s share, the children take the rest leaving the brothers and sisters without a share.
This is a brief scenario concerning inheritance. Worth noting that the following circumstances stop the sequence of inheritance for these heirs:
1. Murderer of the deceased.
2. Non-Muslims.
3. Countries that have constant oppression and attacks on Muslims or Islamic symbols publicly (Darul Harb).
4. Slaves.
A converted Muslim cannot inherit from a non-Muslim parent, and vice-versa.
Considering the legal implications on the inheritance issue and shar’ee prescriptions, it is not advisable to contract a marriage “communauté des biens” as this may complicate the shar’ee inheritance scenario after death.
Best alternative is to contract religious marriages only, but update a full legal will that should be according to Shar’iah. Any remuneration to the wife’s contributions should be compensated during couple`s lifetime.