Fatwa #4369712 January 2020India
How to distribute money received as compensation for deceased?
Question
One of my muslim neighbour died in an accident involving government bus.A case has been registered and after 3 years government is paying money to the deceased family.Does this money has to be shared based on shariah inheritance rules or shared equally.He was survived by his wife,a son,a daughter and his mother. Jazak Allah
Answer
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuhu.
You state that your Muslim neighbour died in an accident involving a government bus. A case was registered for compensation. The case has proven to be successful after three years and the government is paying compensation money to the family of the deceased. You ask how this money should be distributed.
The money received will be treated as a gift. If the payment has been clearly directed to a particular individual, for example the wife of the deceased, then this will be accepted as a gift for her. She will be fully entitled to it and she will not be forced to share it. In this case, the wife may deal with the payment received as she likes.
However, if the payment was not directed towards a particular individual and was given in general for the whole family (although it may be through one person’s account etc.), it will count as a gift for the whole family. In this case the payment will need to be distributed equally between the immediate family (in this case equally between the wife, mother, son and daughter)[1].
And Allah Ta ‘āla Knows Best
Bayazeed
Student – Darul Iftaa
UK
Checked and approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
19-04-1441 | 16-12-2019
[1] الجوهرة النيرة على مختصر القدوري (1/ 324)
الْهِبَةُ فِي اللُّغَةِ هِيَ التَّبَرُّعُ وَفِي الشَّرْعِ عِبَارَةٌ عَنْ تَمْلِيكِ الْأَعْيَانِ بِغَيْرِ عِوَضٍ وَهِيَ جَائِزَةٌ بِالْكِتَابِ وَهُوَ قَوْله تَعَالَى {فَإِنْ طِبْنَ لَكُمْ عَنْ شَيْءٍ مِنْهُ نَفْسًا فَكُلُوهُ هَنِيئًا مَرِيئًا} [النساء: 4] أَيْ هَنِيئًا لَا إثْمَ فِيهِ
مَرِيئًا لَا مَلَامَةَ فِيهِ وَقِيلَ الْهَنِيءُ الطَّيِّبُ الْمَسَاغِ الَّذِي لَا يُنَغِّصُهُ شَيْءٌ وَالْمَرِيءُ الْمَحْمُودُ الْعَاقِبَةِ الَّذِي لَا يَضُرُّ وَلَا يُؤْذِي وَبِالسُّنَّةِ وَهُوَ قَوْلُهُ - عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ – (تَهَادَوْا تَحَابُّوا)
الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (5/ 687)
لمناسبة ظاهر (هي) لغة: التفضل على الغير ولو غير مال. وشرعا: (تمليك العين مجانا) أي بلا عوض لا أن عدم العوض شرط فيه
وأما تمليك الدين من غير من عليه الدين فإن أمره بقبضه صحت لرجوعها إلى هبة العين
البحر الرائق (7/ 284)
كِتَابُ الْهِبَةِ هِيَ لُغَةً التَّفَضُّلُ على الْغَيْرِ بِمَا يَنْفَعُهُ وَلَوْ غير مَالٍ وَاصْطِلَاحًا ما أَشَارَ إلَيْهِ الْمُصَنِّفُ قَوْلُهُ (هِيَ تَمْلِيكُ الْعَيْنِ بِلَا عِوَضٍ) فَخَرَجَتْ الْإِبَاحَةُ وَالْعَارِيَّةُ وَالْإِجَارَةُ وَالْبَيْعُ وَهِبَةُ الدَّيْنِ مِمَّنْ عليه فإنه إسْقَاطٌ وَإِنْ كان بِلَفْظِ الْهِبَةِ
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/337235
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_Accident_Fund
https://www.dsclaw.co.za/road-accident-fund/
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/how-to-claim-from-the-road-accident-fund/
https://www.dsclaw.co.za/road-accident-fund/payouts/
https://www.claimhelp.co.za/road-accident-fund/
https://www.raf.co.za/Claims/Pages/All%20you%20need%20to%20know.aspx