This excerpt is taken from the book of Fazilat-ul-Sheikh Abdul Salam Rustami From Denial of Hadith to Denial of Quran.
Twenty-first Doubt: Inheritance of the Orphan Grandson
The analysis of this doubt is as follows:
➊ Not giving the grandson a share in the grandfather's inheritance in the presence of the uncle is injustice and oppression.
➋ It is the mistake of the jurists that they make the grandfather the heir of the grandson, but do not make the grandson the heir of the grandfather, even though the lineage is the same.
➌ The grandson is the representative of his father. His uncle is not the intermediary; his father was the intermediary and he has passed away, so the grandson should become the heir of the grandfather just like his father.
Doubt Number 1:
Before answering this doubt, an important question to the Hadith deniers is to show any verse in the Holy Quran in which the share of an orphan grandson in inheritance in the presence of an uncle is mentioned. This issue should have been explicitly or implicitly mentioned in the Holy Quran, but it is not mentioned in any way. Has Allah Almighty not paid attention to prevent this injustice? Whereas it is the attribute of Allah Almighty:
وَمَا اللَّهُ يُرِيدُ ظُلْمًا لِّلْعِبَادِ
"And Allah does not want to impose blame upon you for what is meaningless in your oaths, but He wants to make you free of guilt and to purify you."
Reference: (40-Al-Mu’min:31)
Yes! Allah Almighty has mentioned many other ways to sympathize with the orphan.
1. Allah Almighty, along with stating the shares in inheritance in every verse, also said:
مِن بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ تُوصُونَ بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ
"After fulfilling the bequests you make and after the debt."
Reference: (4-An-Nisa:12)
That is, Allah Almighty has explained the bequest, so the grandfather should make a bequest for the orphan grandson and should not bequeath more than one-third. If the grandfather bequeaths one-third for the grandson, then the orphan grandson will get an equal share with them if there are two children, and if there are more children, then in the case of one-third bequest, his share will increase beyond theirs.
2. If the grandfather does not make a bequest, then the uncle can share his wealth with him, and he can even give him all his wealth because the Holy Quran encourages giving wealth to orphans. Allah Almighty says:
وَآتَى الْمَالَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِ ذَوِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ
"And whoever among you gives to the relatives, the orphans, and the needy out of love for Allah."
Reference: (2-Al-Baqarah:177)
Also He said:
قُلْ مَا أَنفَقْتُم مِّنْ خَيْرٍ فَلِلْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَبِينَ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ
"Say, 'Whatever you spend of good – it is for parents and relatives and orphans.'"
Reference: (2-Al-Baqarah:215)
There are many other verses that encourage spending wealth on orphans.
3. If the uncle does not give anything to the orphan nephew, then other relatives can sympathize with him. The following blessed verse points to this matter. It is said:
وَإِذَا حَضَرَ الْقِسْمَةَ أُولُو الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينُ فَارْزُقُوهُم مِّنْهُ
"When the relatives, the orphans, and the needy are present at the time of division of inheritance, then give them something out of it."
Reference: (4-An-Nisa:8)
Islam has prescribed these three methods so that if there is an orphan somewhere, he can be helped through any of these ways.
Doubt Number 2:
The grandfather is made the heir of the orphan grandson. But the orphan grandson is not made the heir of the grandfather.
Answer:
Allah Almighty has based the law of inheritance on closeness, meaning the person who is closer in relation to the deceased will have the primary right to inheritance. Allah Almighty said:
لِلرِّجَالِ نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالْأَقْرَبُونَ وَلِلنِّسَاءِ نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالْأَقْرَبُونَ
“What Allah has appointed for the parents and close relatives of the deceased is a share for men, and a share for women, from what the parents and close relatives leave behind.”
Reference: (4-An-Nisa:7)
The meaning of the verse is that inheritance is given according to the relationship of procreation and closeness of kinship. Similarly, in the three verses of inheritance, Allah Almighty has established the law of الأقرب فالأقرب (the nearer first, then those nearer to them). For example, in Surah An-Nisa, verse 11, the mention of inheritance starts with the children, then the parents, which is based on الأقرب فالأقرب. In verse 12, the inheritance of the husband and wife is mentioned, who are closer relatives after procreation, while in verse 176, the inheritance of full brothers and half-brothers is mentioned, where full brothers take precedence over half-brothers. This too is based on الأقرب فالأقرب.
On the basis of this principle, the paternal uncle of an orphan boy is closer to him than his grandfather because he is the son of the grandfather, and the orphan boy is more distant from the uncle due to the intermediary (father). After the death of the father, the grandson does not take the place of the son; he remains a grandson. Thus, in the presence of the uncle, the nephew cannot become an heir. If in such a case the orphan grandson is made a sharer in inheritance (without any Shariah evidence for this), it would be an injustice to the son by the grandfather. The grandfather is made the heir of the grandson because he is أقرب for the grandson, while the uncle is ابعد because the uncle is an uncle through the grandfather.
Objection No. 3:
A grandson is the representative of his father.
Answer:
This principle of representation is one of the self-invented principles of Hafiz Aslam and Mr. Parvez. They cannot present any source from the Holy Quran for this; rather, it is even against rational requirements. They argue that the grandson was close to the grandfather through the father, while the father died before the grandfather, so the father cannot be considered an intermediary. This is equivalent to ignoring reality. If someone raises the example in objection that if a person's father dies and his grandfather is alive, then the grandfather acts as the representative of the father, the answer is that in this case the grandfather becomes an heir due to proximity of relationship, not because of representation. Whereas in the case of the orphan grandson, أقرب (uncle) is present, so the principle of representation does not apply here.
