Code of Muslim Personal Laws

Article 89

Succession is a mode of acquisition by virtue of which the estate of a person is transmitted to his heirs or others in accordance with this code.

Article 90

The rights to succession are transmitted from the moment of the death of the decedent. The right to succession of any heir who predeceases the decedent shall not be transmitted by right of representation to his own heirs.

Article 91

No settlement of the estate of a deceased person shall be effected unless: (a) The death of the decedent is ascertained; (b) The successor is alive at the time of the death of the decedent; and (c) The successor is not disqualified to inherit.

Article 92

The inheritance of a person includes all properties of any kind, movable or immovable, whether ancestral or acquired either by onerous or gratuitous title, as well as all transmissible rights and obligations at the time of his death and those that accrue thereto before partition.

Article 93

The following shall be disqualified to succeed: (a) Those who have intentionally caused directly or indirectly the death of the decedent; (b) Those who have committed any other act which constitutes a ground for disqualification to inherit under Islamic law; and (c) Those who are so situated that they cannot inherit under Islamic law.

Article 94

Without prejudice to the order of succession of heirs, mutual rights of inheritance shall obtain: (a) Between the acknowledging father and the acknowledged child; and (b) Between the kinsman acknowledged through another person and the acknowledger.

Article 95

A child who was the cause of the mother's having been divorced by li'an shall have mutual rights of succession only with the mother and her relatives.

Article 96

(1) The husband who divorces his wife shall have mutual rights of inheritance with her while she is observing her 'idda. After the expiration of the 'idda, there shall be no mutual rights of succession between them. (2) The husband who, while in a condition of death-illness, divorces his wife shall not inherit from her, but she shall have the right to succeed him even after the expiration of her 'idda.

Article 97

A child conceived at the time of the death of the decedent shall be considered an heir provided it be born later in accordance with Article 10; its corresponding share shall be reserved before the estate is distributed.

Article 98

The share of an heir who is missing or otherwise absent at the time of the death of the decedent shall be reserved: (a) Until he reappears and claims it; (b) Until he is proven dead; or (c) Until the lapse of ten years after which he shall be presumed dead by decree of the court.

Article 99

The heirs of a decedent shall inherit in the following order: (a) Sharers (ashab-ul-furud) shall be entitled to fixed shares; (b) Residuaries (ashab-ul-mirath) shall be entitled to the residue; (c) In the absence of the foregoing, the distant kindred (dhaw-ul-arham) who are blood relatives but are neither sharers nor residuaries; and (d) In default of the above, the acknowledged kinsman, universal legatee, or the public treasury (bait-ul-mal), in that order.

Article 100

Succession may be: (a) By will (wasiya); (b) By operation of this Code; or (c) By combination of both.