My younger sister ran away from the family home when she was sixteen
years old. My parents tried very hard to convince her to come back,but
she refused and said that she no longer wantedto be part of this
family. There has been very little contact between us and her during
the last twenty years. Now my father has died.
1. Is my sister entitled to a share of what my father left behind?
2. Is there anything wrongwith her marrying a Christian man and saying
that her children are free to choose between Islam and Christianity?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
The factors that determinewhether one person inherits from another are
three: blood ties (kinship), marriage and wala' (relationship between
a freed slave and his former master). And the impediments to
inheritance are three: being a slave, being the murderer of the
deceased, and being of different religions. The fact that your sister
ran away from the family home does not alter the fact that she is the
daughter of your parents. This means that she comes under the heading
of kinship by virtue of which she is entitled to inherit from them so
long as she has not apostatised from Islam.
The fact that she ran away from the family home does not deprive her
of her right to inherit from your father, even if she hasstayed away
from her parents' home for a long time. And we do not knowof any
difference of scholarly opinion concerning that.
Secondly:
Marriage of a Muslim woman to a non-Muslim man is a major sin, and
there is scholarly consensus that it is haraam and that the marriage
contract is invalid. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of
the meaning):
"And give not (your daughters) in marriage to Al-Mushrikoon till they
believe (in Allah Alone) and verily, a believing slave is better than
a (free)Mushrik (idolater, etc.), even though he pleases you"
[al-Baqarah 2:221]
"O you who believe! Whenbelieving women come to you as emigrants,
examinethem, Allah knows best as to their Faith, then if you ascertain
that they are true believers, send them not back to the disbelievers,
they are not lawful (wives) for the disbelievers nor are the
disbelievers lawful (husbands) for them"
[al-Mumtahanah 60:10].
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) was
asked: A man married a Muslim woman then it became apparent that the
man was a kaafir. What is the ruling on that?
He replied:
If it is proven that the manmentioned was a kaafir at the time of the
marriage contract and the woman was Muslim, then the marriage contract
is invalid because it is not permissible, according to the consensus
of the Muslims, for a kaafir to marry a Muslim woman, because Allah,
may He be glorified, says (interpretation of the meaning): "And give
not (your daughters) in marriage to Al-Mushrikoon"[al-Baqarah2:221]
and "then if you ascertain that they are true believers, send them not
back to the disbelievers, they are not lawful (wives) for the
disbelievers nor are the disbelievers lawful (husbands) for them"
[al-Mumtahanah 60:10].
End quote from Fataawa Islamiyyah, 3/230
It says in a statement of the Islamic Fiqh Council: Marriage of a
kaafir to a Muslim woman is haraam and is not permissible according to
scholarly consensus. And there is no doubt concerning that, because of
what is impliedby shar'i texts.
End quote from Fataawa Islamiyyah, 3/231
Any Muslim woman who isaware of that (and still does it) deserves to
incur sin and deserves to be subjected to the hadd punishment for
zina. But if a woman was unaware of this ruling, sin is waived in her
case, but it is not permissible for her to remain in that marriage,
because it was never valid in the first place.
See also the answer to question no. 8396
Thirdly:
It seems from your question that your sister has not declared any
apostasy from Islam, but there remains the issue of her marriage to a
non-Muslim and her sayingthat her children are free to choose between
Islam and Christianity. So we say:
1. It seems that her marriage to a Christian man is an invalid,
haraam marriage. If she did that regarding it as permissible when she
was aware of the prohibition on it, then that constitutes apostasy
from Islam, and the apostate cannot inherit from his Muslim relative.
If she did not regard it as permissible, then she is a sinner, as
mentioned above, but that does not prevent her from inheriting.
2. With regard to her saying that her children are free to choose
between Islam and Christianity, that is a false notion and a great
evil, because Islam is the true religion and nothing other than it is
valid or acceptable from anyone. :->
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