The inheritance of grand daughters while their father is alive

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

Assalamu alaykum

May Allah bless you for your concern in a matter that Allah has dealt with in detail in his Qur’an.

In the situation described in the question, the granddaughters do not receive any share of the inheritance.

This may be induced by the general principle mentioned in the Sirajiyya (a reliable text in inheritance law in the Hanafi school) that, ‘whoever is connected with the dead person through their connection with somebody else then they will not inherit if that other person is present’ (106, Sharh al-Sirajiyya, Maktaba Dar al-Bayruti)

In this instance the intermediary between the would-be inheritors and the deceased is the son of the deceased. So as long as the son is alive, his daughters will not be entitled to a share of the inheritance of their grandfather.

This case in particular is expressly mentioned by Muhammad Qudri Basha in his standard codification of Hanafi personal law, al-Akham al-Shar`iyya fi al-Ahwal al-Shakhsiya in article 602.

‘602 The daughters of the son are like the real daughters of the deceased. They have six possible shares:

– A half – if there is only one granddaughter

– Two thirds – if there are two or more granddaughters as long as there are no real daughters

– A sixth – if there is one real daughter

– NO INHERITANCE – if two or more real daughters are present except if there is on the same level as them a male equivalent…in which case they divide it amongst themselves with the males taking twice the share of the females

– They fall aside (i.e. NO INHERITANCE) if there is a son of the deceased present’

It is clear that the case mentioned in the question is infact this last case mentioned by Muhammad Qudri Basha.

And Allah knows best.

Sohail Hanif