Question
My brother married a christian girl and is leaving with her since 11 Years and is having two kids. Before my father died he distributed the property among us but kept a condition that I my brother’s wife accepts islam he should be given the share. But now it looks his wife will not accept islam. We have assured him that we will give him his share irrespective of the condition. Now my sister insist us to follow father’s wish and instead give his share to a mosque or madarsa.
Pleaes help me shall we give him his share by ignoring father’s will.
Answer
The condition that your father has put needs to be treated as a part of his will.
We read in the Qur’an about following the will of the deceased:
…then whoever alters the will after having heard it, the sin shall be upon those, who alter it. God, indeed, is Hearing, Knowing. On the other hand, whoever fears partiality or undue denial of rights on the part of the one making the will and, subsequently, brings about a settlement among them, there shall be no sin upon him. God, indeed, is Forgiving, Merciful. – Al-Baqarah 2:181-182
As it is clear from the above, in principle the will of the deceased needs to be accurately followed. However, based on the above verse, if the trustee of the will finds that the will does not seem to be reasonably fair then he/she can attempt to discuss the issue among the inheritors in hope of reaching a solution that everyone agrees. If every one agrees to give the entire or part of the share to your brother, or if they reached any other agreed upon settlement, then this agreed upon adjustment/alteration to the will can be implemented.
On the other hand if the trustee does not consider the will to be unfair or if he/she did not manage to have the inheritors to agree on a change or adjustment of the will then there is no way but to observe your father’s condition.
Now, based on the impression I got from your question, I am making two assumptions:
- that your father’s condition was not like “keep the share till she becomes Muslim at any time in future”, rather it was like “give the share only if she becomes Muslim by the time you want to manage the transfer of the share”.
- that your father has not given any alternative use for the share
If the above assumptions are correct then the share needs to be treated in accordance to the instructions given in the Qur’an (al-Nisaa 4:11-13). If and once this share is distributed according to the instructions of the Qur’an then it will be up to those who receive this share to decide what to do with it. They can use it, give it to charity, or give it to your brother.
Please write to us if the assumption 1 is not correct.
Abdullah Rahim