The Killer Cannot Inherit from the One He Murdered
Written by: Imran Ayub Lahori
❖ Principle
A murderer cannot inherit from the one he has killed.
❖ Evidences
① Narration of ʿAmr bin Shuʿaib, from his father, from his grandfather:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
لا يرث القاتل شيئا
“The killer does not inherit anything.”
[Ḥasan: Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 3818, Kitāb al-Diyāt: Bāb Diyāt al-Aʿḍā’; Abū Dāwūd: 4564; Nasā’ī: 8/42]
② In another narration:
ليس للقاتل من الميراث شيئ
“The killer has no share in the inheritance of the murdered.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Irwā’ al-Ghalīl: 6/117, no. 1671; Dāraquṭnī: 4/237; Bayhaqī: 6/220]
Shaykh Ḥāzim ʿAlī Qāḍī declared it an authentic mawqūf narration, while Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣubḥī Ḥasan Ḥallāq also graded it authentic.
[al-Taʿlīq ʿalā Sabil al-Salām: 3/1281; 5/339]
❖ Scholarly Consensus
The scholars unanimously agree that killing prevents inheritance. A murderer cannot inherit from the victim.
[al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuhu: 10/7715; al-Farā’iḍ, p. 24]
❖ Opinions of the Schools
- Imām al-Shāfiʿī and Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (رحمهما الله):
Whether intentional (ʿAmad) or accidental (Khaṭā’), the killer cannot inherit. - Imām Mālik (رحمه الله):
If the killing was accidental, the killer may inherit wealth but not diyah (blood money).
[al-Umm by al-Shāfiʿī: 4/76; al-Maʿrifah by al-Shāfiʿī: 9/103; al-Mabsūṭ: 30/46; al-Baḥr al-Zakhkhār: 5/367; Bidāyat al-Mujtahid: 4/220] - Amīr al-Ṣanʿānī (رحمه الله):
There is no valid proof for this distinction; in all cases, the killer cannot inherit.
[Sabil al-Salām: 3/1281]
