Family Rights, Inheritance, and Zakat: Divine Islamic Directives

By Mawlana Ahsan Syed | 2026-06-29T18:00:18.815075+00:00 | Topic: Relationships

The Importance of Family Rights, Inheritance, and Wealth Planning in Islam

We often think that education means that he has to get a degree and whatnot. That's there in its own place. That has its own place.

But more importantly, it comes in the hadith:

تَعَلَّمُوا الْأَنْسَابَ

Teach the child his lineage. Why? It's not there so that he learns so that he could boast — "I belong to this family, I belong to this family." No. It's so that he knows who his relatives are, so that he can give them their due rights.

I know who my father is. I know who my grandparents are. I know who my uncles are, my aunts are. They have a right over me.

وَءَاتِ ذَا ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ حَقَّهُۥ وَٱلْمِسْكِينَ وَٱبْنَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَلَا تُبَذِّرْ تَبْذِيرًا
(Quran 17:26)

In the Qur'an, in so many places, Allah mentions: Give to أُولِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ — but the first that are mentioned are family. So if you have a family member who is in need, he has a right over you that you spend on him. You have an uncle, you have a cousin who is in difficulty — spend on him, help him out, because he has a right due to that blood relationship.

So from the beginning, from the time that a child is young — there is the Qur'an, the Hadith, the ta'leem of the Prophet ﷺ that teaches us. And then all the way until the person's death. Even after death. Even after death.

Inheritance: A Divine Determination

So among the things that the Prophet ﷺ taught us is, for example, inheritance. Inheritance was not left for the people to decide. "I'm gonna give him this much, I'm gonna give him this much. Oh, I like him, so I'm gonna give him. Oh, I like her — this daughter of mine, she's better, so I'm gonna give her." No, no. This was not left to the people to decide. And we see the result — when the people decide, what happens? Problems.

Rather, this is a matter that Allah has already determined:

يُوصِيكُمُ ٱللَّهُ فِىٓ أَوْلَٰدِكُمْ ۖ لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ ٱلْأُنثَيَيْنِ ۚ فَإِن كُنَّ نِسَآءًۭ فَوْقَ ٱثْنَتَيْنِ فَلَهُنَّ ثُلُثَا مَا تَرَكَ ۖ وَإِن كَانَتْ وَٰحِدَةًۭ فَلَهَا ٱلنِّصْفُ ۚ وَلِأَبَوَيْهِ لِكُلِّ وَٰحِدٍۢ مِّنْهُمَا ٱلسُّدُسُ مِمَّا تَرَكَ إِن كَانَ لَهُۥ وَلَدٌۭ ۚ فَإِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ وَلَدٌۭ وَوَرِثَهُۥٓ أَبَوَاهُ فَلِأُمِّهِ ٱلثُّلُثُ ۚ فَإِن كَانَ لَهُۥٓ إِخْوَةٌۭ فَلِأُمِّهِ ٱلسُّدُسُ ۚ مِنۢ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍۢ يُوصِى بِهَآ أَوْ دَيْنٍ ۗ ءَابَآؤُكُمْ وَأَبْنَآؤُكُمْ لَا تَدْرُونَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ لَكُمْ نَفْعًۭا ۚ فَرِيضَةًۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًۭا
(Quran 4:11)

The verses have been mentioned. What are the portions that individuals will get in inheritance has been determined by Allah.

And just like you cannot come up with prayers yourself — you cannot say, "You know what? Instead of five prayers, I'm gonna pray four," or "Instead of five, I'm gonna do an additional sixth prayer." No, it's not left to you. It was determined by Allah: five daily prayers, these are the timings of these prayers, this is when you're gonna pray them, this is when they begin, this is when they end.

Zakat: An Act of Worship Requiring Calculation

Same thing with zakat. Sometimes we think, "You know what, let me estimate myself. Okay, I think I have this much money. Okay, what's 2.5%? Okay, let me just give it, let me give an extra amount." No — zakat is an ibadah. So when you sit, you should actually sit and calculate zakat. These are the assets that I have. This is how much money I have. How much does it come out to be?

Fine, you can give a little extra to be on the safe side. But this is an ibadah. Don't think that when you sit and calculate zakat, you're wasting your time — you're actually doing an ibadah. Just like prayer: if you're praying Dhuhr, it's four raka'at. You don't pray five raka'at, you don't pray three raka'at, you pray four raka'at. Likewise, if I have to give, if this is how much money I have — these are the assets that I have — I'm gonna sit and calculate and get the number. Fine, I could give additional. Likewise, just as we pray some extra nawafil, and the nawafil help remove any deficiency that may have been in our fara'id — likewise, we can give extra, and that could be sadaqah. But we should sit and actually calculate.

Do Not Leave Inheritance Unsettled

Likewise, when it comes to inheritance, don't just leave it. We don't live in a country where these things are gonna be settled for us on our behalf according to the Shari'ah. They will be settled — they will be settled — but trust me, they will not be settled according to the deen of Allah. And you may think, "Alhamdulillah, everything is going to be taken care of." But sometimes you're left with a greater problem.

One brother once mentioned to me that he had to travel back home to India. He asked me to make du'a. I said, "What happened?" He said two of his relatives — siblings — are fighting regarding land property that their father owned, and he was going there to do sulh, to try to come up with an agreement between them. But subhanAllah, you'd never think growing up — a person would never think, "My own brother, my own sister, we're gonna get into an argument regarding this." But subhanAllah, this is the nature of the dunya.

We live in a very materialistic society. A person is always — anything good becomes a money-making scheme. Take education — money-making scheme. Medicine — money-making scheme. Not saying that a person shouldn't go into it, but that's the nature of a materialistic society. And it creeps in. Those bonds that Allah made by blood — subhanAllah — they will mean nothing to a person anymore.

So it's a good idea that a person, before he passes away, already has these things set: "This is how much so-and-so is gonna inherit." And don't think you're wasting your time — that is an ibadah.

The Hadith on Learning the Laws of Inheritance

In the hadith it comes, the Prophet ﷺ says:

تَعَلَّمُوا الْفَرَائِضَ وَعَلِّمُوهَا، فَإِنَّهُ نِصْفُ الْعِلْمِ، وَهُوَ يُنْسَى، وَهُوَ أَوَّلُ شَيْءٍ يُنْزَعُ مِنْ أُمَّتِي

(Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 2719)

"Study the fara'id and teach it." The meaning of fara'id here is the knowledge of inheritance. Study it and teach it. "Because it is half of knowledge" — because it is relating to death. Life and death — these are the two things. So you have ahkam related to life, and ahkam related to death. So what is related to death? The knowledge related to death is inheritance. "And it is something that is forgotten. And it will be the first type of knowledge removed from my ummah."

We don't want that to happen. Inshallah, we're not in that time. Alhamdulillah, ulama are present. Alhamdulillah, we have specialists, we have people who are professionals in this who can help in this regard.

The Obligation of Writing One's Wasiyah

In one hadith it comes, the Prophet ﷺ said:

مَا حَقُّ امْرِئٍ مُسْلِمٍ لَهُ شَيْءٌ يُوصِي فِيهِ يَبِيتُ لَيْلَتَيْنِ إِلَّا وَوَصِيَّتُهُ مَكْتُوبَةٌ عِنْدَهُ
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2738)

"It is not appropriate for a Muslim to spend two nights except that his wasiyah is already written down."

Another narration, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned — it comes in Ibn Mājah:

مَنْ مَاتَ عَلَى وَصِيَّةٍ مَاتَ عَلَى سَبِيلٍ وَسُنَّةٍ، وَمَاتَ عَلَى تُقًى وَشَهَادَةٍ، وَمَاتَ مَغْفُورًا لَهُ

(Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 2701)

"One who passed away while having his wasiyah already written — he has died on the correct path, he has died on sunnah. And he has died on taqwa, and on the fact that Allah bears witness. And he dies with forgiveness from Allah." Because this can create a lot of chaos afterwards.

Tonight's Opportunity: Islamic Estate Planning

I mentioned this because alhamdulillah we have an opportunity tonight. We have a program here which is related to inheritance and wealth planning. We have, mashallah, Hafiz Yasir Ali, who inshallah tonight will be discussing this issue — wealth planning and whatnot. Any details that are there, he can assist, especially here in this country: what are the things that we could do, what are the steps that we can take, how can we do that. So this is a good opportunity, and it's open to everybody.

So I highly recommend it, because it's a matter of deen. It's a matter of deen. And we should consider it as a matter of deen and give it importance. Inshallah, definitely we will benefit. And it's something that we can at least start working on — at least start working on it, start thinking about it, inshallah ta'ala.

Du'a and Closing

May Allah give us the tawfiq, and allow that any animosity that may be within people's hearts — especially in wealth-related matters — may Allah turn our hearts towards the akhirah. That's where we have to go. That's where we're all headed to. That's our destination, no matter who we are. May Allah accept it from us, inshallah. Alhamdulillah rabbil 'alamin.

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