Aslam

Praise be to Allah.No part of the religion of Allaah may be forsaken because of differences in

time, place or circumstances, whether it be the laws of inheritance or

anything else. These rulings apply in all times and in every place, for

Arabs and non-Arabs, male and female, rich and poor, nomads or

city-dwellers; all of them are equal in this regard. When Allaah mentioned

the laws of inheritance in Soorat al-Nisaa’, He said at the end of the

aayah (interpretation of the meaning):

“(these

fixed shares) are ordained by Allaah. And Allaah is Ever All Knower, All

Wise” [al-Nisaa’ 4:11]

Imaam Ibn

Katheer said in his commentary on this aayah: this is an obligation which

Allaah has enjoined and decreed. Allaah is All-Knowing and All-Wise, Who

puts things in their places and gives each person what he deserves

according to his own situation. “And

Allaah is Ever All‑Knower, All‑Wise” [al-Nisaa’ 4:11].

(al-Tafseer, 1/500).

Then

Allaah says, concerning the rulings and amounts of inheritance

(interpretation of the meaning):

“These

are the limits (set by) Allaah (or ordainments as regards laws of

inheritance), and whosoever obeys Allaah and His Messenger (Muhammad) will

be admitted to Gardens under which rivers flow (in Paradise), to abide

therein, and that will be the great success.And whosoever disobeys Allaah and His Messenger (Muhammad), and

transgresses His limits, He will cast him into the Fire, to abide therein;

and he shall have a disgraceful torment} [al-Nisaa’ 4:13-14]

In

this aayah, Allaah states that not implementing the shar’i rules on

inheritance is a transgression of the limits set by Allaah, and that the

person who does this will abide in Hell forever and will suffer a

disgraceful torment.

You

must realize – may Allaah bless you – that knowledge of the

inheritance laws is half of knowledge, as some of the scholars said. Ibn

Katheer said: Ibn ‘Uyaynah said: the inheritance laws have been called

half of knowledge because all people go through this. (al-Tafseer,

2/497).

Secondly:

If you

believe that the person who does not pray is a kaafir and apostate –

which is the correct view, and Allaah knows best – it is not permissible

for a kaafir to inherit anything from a Muslim’s wealth, or for a Muslim

to inherit anything from a kaafir’s wealth.

It

was reported from Usaamah ibn Zayd (may Allaah be pleased with him) that

the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “A

Muslim does not inherit from a kaafir and a kaafir does not inherit from a

Muslim.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6383; Muslim, 1614).

Based

on the above, those who do not pray cannot inherit anything from those who

pray regularly, and those who pray regularly cannot inherit anything from

those who do not pray.

Thirdly:

You should

find out whether this person who does not pray has forsaken prayer

altogether, or if he prays some of the obligatory prayers and neglects

others. If the latter is the case, then he is not a kaafir, because the

kaafir is the person who does not pray at all.

Fourthly:

From

the above it will be clear that upholding the limits set by Allaah with

regard to inheritance is obligatory in all cases, whether all the family

members accept this ruling or only some of them do so, because the ruling

of Allaah is fixed and definite. At the same time we should note that

everyone who does not accept the ruling of Allaah is a kaafir who cannot

inherit from his Muslim relative and his Muslim relative cannot inherit

from him, if he dies when he still rejects the ruling of Allaah and is still a kaafir. And Allaah knows best.