My mother passed away before her parents, do I inherit her share from my grandparents?

This question is a bit complicated, so let’s break down how Islamic inheritance handles this situation:

If your grandparents have no surviving children, then their grandchildren will inherit as Islamic heirs.

If your grandparents only have surviving daughter(s) (your aunt(s)), then the grandchildren from a predeceased son would inherit as Islamic heirs.

If your grandparents have a surviving son (your uncle), then according to the Islamic law of inheritance, grandchildren of both predeceased sons and daughters are blocked by the surviving son.  In other words, the grandchildren are not Islamic heirs of their grandparents.

Muslim scholars addressed the situation where a grandchild of a predeceased son or daughter does not inherit from his or her grandparents.  They solved this situation by creating the Obligatory Bequest.  The Obligatory Bequest passes the predeceased child’s inheritance to his or her children – and this share is capped at 1/3 of the estate.  The grandchildren here receive inheritance as a bequest (wassiyah), not as an Islamic heir.

While some Muslim scholars considered this grandchild bequest (wassiyah) to be discretionary, the majority of scholars considered it obligatory.  For example, Ibn Hazm, Imam Ahmad, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Sa’id Ibn Al-Musayyib, Al-Tabari, and Al-Qaradawi considered it obligatory.

Most Muslim countries have codified this Obligatory Bequest into law.  Pakistan, for example, codified it in the Muslim Family Ordinance (1961).  Section 4 of the Muslim Family Law Ordinance (1961) provides:

Succession in the event of the death of any son or daughter of the propisitus before the opening of succession, the children of such son or daughter, if any, living at the time the succession opens, shall per stirpes receive a share equivalent to the share, which such son or daughter, as a case may be, would have received if alive.

The Egyptian Inheritance Law of 1946 codified the Obligatory Bequest, that is, the grandchildren take their predeceased parent’s share.  If the grandparent already provided a bequest (wassiyah) to his grandchildren or gave them gifts in his or her lifetime, then the Obligatory Bequest does not apply.  Yemeni law adds a condition that the grandchildren must be impoverished.

There is near unanimity among the laws of Muslim countries that a grandchild and a great-grandchild of a predeceased son is entitled to the Obligatory Bequest, but differ on whether the grandchild and great-grandchild of a predeceased daughter is entitled to the Obligatory Bequest.  Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, Kuwait, Syria, and Algeria provide that the grandchildren of a predeceased daughter are entitled to an Obligatory Bequest, but great-grandchildren of a predeceased daughter are not entitled to the Obligatory Bequest.

The laws of the UAE and Pakistan provide that the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of a predeceased son or daughter are entitled to the Obligatory Bequest.  Jordan and Yemen provide that the grandchildren of a predeceased daughter are not entitled to the Obligatory Bequest.

Use our ISLAMIC WILL software to prepare your own customized Islamic estate plan that is legally valid for your state, which will allow you to include the Obligatory Bequest for your grandchildren.