Classes of Heirs (Muslim Law) - Indian Laws - General

Classes of Heirs (Muslim Law) As per Mulla, distribution takes place in the following manner: There are three classes of heirs, namely, (1) Sharers, (2) Residuaries, and (3) Distant Kindred: (1) Sharers are those who are entitled to a prescribed share of the inheritance; (2) Residuaries are those who take no prescribed share, but succeed to the residue after the claims of the sharers are satisfied; (3) Distant Kindred are all those relations by blood who are neither Sharers nor Residuaries. Sharers take in the following manner: 63. Sharers After payment of funeral expenses, debts, and legacies, the first step in the distribution of the estate, of a deceased Mahomedan is to ascertain which of the surviving relations belong to the class of sharers, and which again of these are entitled to a share of the inheritance, and, after this is done, to proceed to assign their respective shares to such of the sharers as are, under the circumstances of the case , entitled to succeed to a share. The first column in the accompanying table (p. 66A) contains a list of Sharers; the second column specifies the normal share of each sharer; the third column specifies the conditions which determine the right of each sharer to a share, and the fourth column sets out the shares as varied by special circumstances. Residuaries take if there are no sharers or if there are sharers, after satisfying their claims. As per Mulla, they will take in the following manner: 65. Residuaries If there are no Sharers, or if there are Sharers, but there is a residue left after satisfying their claims, the whole inheritance or the residue, as the case may be, devolves upon Residuaries in the order set forth in the annexed table (p. 74A). The Residuaries or Agnatic heirs were the principal heirs before Islam; they continue to remain the principal heirs in Sunni law. Their premier position is, in Islam, always subject to the claims of near relations mentioned as the Koranic heirs. First they are satisfied by giving them their Koranic shares. Residuaries are the relations whose rights were also recognized by tribal laws in Saudi Arabia before Islam. The rights of residuaries are recognized by the Holy Quran (by implication) and by the traditions of the prophet (PBUH) in very specific terms. The Holy Quran declares: from what is left by parents and near kindred, there is a share for men and a share for woman, whether the property be small or large-a determinate share. To (benefit) every one, we have appointed shares and heirs to property left by parents and near relatives.... Allah directs you concerning your children (their inheritance), to the male a portion equal to that of two females.... They ask thee for a legal decision. Say: Allah directs (thus) about those who leave no descendants or ascendants as heir. If it is a man that dies, leaving a sister but no child, she shall have half the inheritance. If (such a deceased was) a woman who left no child, her brother takes her inheritance... If they are brothers and sisters, (they share), the male having twice the share of the female. The first two verses are clear proof that blood relations are entitled to inherit. Blood relations definitely include residuaries (the male agnates). [see, Mohammad Mustafa Ali Khan, Islamic Law of Inheritance, 1st edition.] The Distant kindred is dealt with in Section 67 in Mulla s Principles of Mahomedan Law thus: 67. Distant Kindred- (1) If there be no shares or Residuaries, the inheritance is divided amongst Distant Kindred. (2) If the only sharer be a husband or wife, and there be no relation belonging to the class of Residuaries, the husband or wife will take his or her full share, and the remainder of the estate will be divided among Distant Kindred. [ T. RAVI AND ORS. VERSUS B. CHINNA NARASIMHA AND ORS.- 2017 (3) TMI 1924 - SUPREME COURT ]