Fatwa: # 15861
Category: Inheritance (Irth)
Country: South Africa
Date: 18th November 2007

Title

Would the proceeds of this fund be regarded as inheritance?

Question

My sister is unmarried, we have no parents and she has no children, only four sisters and two brothers in total.  She has no assets and only has a compulsory pension fund.    Would the proceeds of this fund be regarded as inheritance should she pass away before her siblings.  If so, what is the distribution according to Shariah?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh

The proceeds of the compulsory pension fund will be regarded as a gift in behalf of the company to whoever is nominated as the beneficiary of the proceeds after her death. The proceeds will not be regarded as her inheritance as she did not own the money in her lifetime. 

And Allah knows best

Wassalam

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa

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