السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
It’s Friday 2nd July 2021.
Let’s touch upon the ‘Personal Belongings of the Deceased’ today.
In one of my previous messages, I touched upon the subject of Bereavement.
It really is a very sad occasion when a loved one departs from this world. The closer the person was to a particular individual, the longer it takes for that person to adjust to life again.
Having said that, experience has shown that our Merciful Creator grants us the strength and courage to move on in life. With regard to the personal belongings of the deceased, such as clothes, shoes, personal hygiene items, etc., our beautiful religion teaches us that each and every item now belongs to the inheritors.
It has become custom, or practice, to distribute assets of the deceased (e.g., money and property) amongst the inheritors, but personal items are given away to a charity or the poor. This must not be the case. The person sorting out all the affairs of the deceased should ask each and every inheritor individually and share out the belongings according to the best of their ability.
If all the inheritors happily, without any pressure, agree to distribute the belongings, then do not delay at all. It is highly possible that the person closest to the deceased doesn’t want to let anything go and try and hold onto everything to keep alive the memories of the deceased. This is also incorrect.
Our aim should be to try and benefit the deceased as much as possible; hence, the sooner we distribute the items to the poor and needy, the better. As well as benefiting the needy, it will also help the bereaved family to move on in life.
It is a very difficult time and if you are suffering from a bereavement then please do not suffer in silence. Talk to your local Imām or ‘Ālimāt and they will guide you through this very difficult, but not impossible, phase of your life.
Almighty Allāh convert the resting places of all the Marḥūmeen into Gardens of Jannat ul-Firdaus and bless the bereaved families with Ṣabr Jamīl, Āmeen.
Please share with families bereaved recently. My website has my other messages on bereavement as well.
جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا
Request for Du’ās
وَالسَّلَامُ Hanif Dudhwala
Supplementary Resources
An Introduction to Inheritance in Islām – Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Muḥammad Saleem Dhorāt Ḥafizahullāh
Testators Asset and Finance Identifier – Shaykh Ebrahim Noor
Inheritance Fatwas – Mufti Yūsuf Shabbir
Will Writing – Why? When? How? – Shaykh Mufti ‘Abdullāh Patel
Inheritance Fatwas – Mufti Muḥammad ibn Ādam al-Kawthari