Fiqh of Inheritance, - Impediments of Inheritance

Just as there are causes by virtue of which two persons can inherit
from each other, there are also impediments that could hinder
inheritance between them. Those impediments might be summed up as
follows:
First impediment: Difference in religion
If the deceased follows a religion and the heir follows another
religion, the difference in religion between two persons impedes them
from inheriting from each other. Such difference in religion takes
several forms including:
The deceased is a Muslim and the heir is a disbeliever, say a Jew, a
Christian or belonging to any religion of disbelief. In this case, the
disbeliever does not inherit from his Muslim relative. There is no
difference of opinion over this fact among scholars in general, due to
the followingHadeeth)narration(:"No Muslim inherits
The deceased is a disbeliever and the heir is a Muslim. In this case,
the Muslim should not inherit )from the property of( his disbelieving
relative, according to the opinion of the majority of scholars, who
base their opinion on the previousHadeeth.
The deceased is a disbeliever, belonging to a particular religion, and
the heir is also a disbeliever, but belonging to another religion. In
this case, they should not inherit from each other, due to
theHadeeth:"No people belonging to two different religions should
inherit from each other."]Abu Daawood and
There are, indeed, juristic differences as to the classification of
religion. According to some scholars, disbelief as a whole is regarded
as one religion; and according to others, there are three religions
)apart from Islam(: Judaism is a religion, Christianity is a religion
and all other religions are regarded as one religion.
Second impediment: Killing
Killing is to commit an act that terminates the life of another
person. It means that the murderer never inherits from the murdered
person. If a son kills his father, he will not be entitled to inherit
his property.
It is well known that killing is of different kinds: for instance, the
murder with no just cause, the intentional killing, semi-intentional
killing, killing by mistake; and killing with just cause )like killing
in implementation of legal retribution(. However, scholars agree on
the fact that murder is among the impediments of inheritance, due to
theHadeeth:"The killer has nothing to inherit, and if he )the
deceased( has no heir, his heir should be the closest relative to him.
The killer inherits nothing."]Abu Daawood[
However, there is a difference of opinion among the scholars
ofFiqh)Islamic jurisprudence( as to whether or not some forms of
killing could impede the killer from inheriting.
Third impediment: Slavery
It is the state of being a slave to another. The slave never inherits
the property of the free man, since the slave does not possess
property.