Q. Could you please tell me how my estate would be divided among my heirs if the present situation remains unchanged. I have one wife, my mother, one brother and one sister. I do not have any children, and my father has died. How does the situation change if any of these relatives dies before me? Are there any other relatives entitled to inherit me? How much can I bequeath by will, and can such will be made in favor of any of my heirs? If I leave something to charity, can I appoint my wife to manage such disbursement?
(Name and address withheld)
A. If the situation remains unchanged, your wife receives one-quarter of all what you leave behind, after the payment of three items: your funeral expenses, any debt you owe to anyone, and your will. Your mother receives one-sixth. The remainder goes to your brother and sister, with your brother receiving twice as much as your sister.
If your wife or your mother dies before you, her share is cancelled and added to “the remainder”, which is due to your brother and sister. If either your brother or sister dies before you, your mother’s share is increased to one-third. If your sister dies before you, the remainder, i.e. after the payment of the shares of your wife and mother, goes to your brother. If your brother dies first and you are survived by your wife, mother and sister, then your sister receives one-half of your estate. This makes the three shares: one-quarter, one-third and one-half more than the total of one. Therefore they are reduced proportionately, which means that your wife receives three out of 13 shares, your mother four out of 13 and your sister six out of 13.
Purification, prayer
Q.1. How to clean clothes if impurity attaches to them, and thus they become impure, or najis? How about the floor of a thoroughfare where urine falls on it?
Q.2. How is the witr prayer offered according to the Hanafi school of Islamic Fiqh? May I also ask if it is obligatory that we should follow the method of only one Imam, and not pick and choose according to convenience?
Jafri
A.1. If impurity, such as urine, falls on one’s clothes, then the best method to remove such impurity is to wait until the garment is dry. Then we rinse the contaminated area with water. It is sufficient to do this once only. If we need to wash the garment when it is still wet with the impurity, we should ensure that the contaminated area is thoroughly flushed with water. There is no need to repeat the process three times as some people suggest. But we need to either rinse the area if it is dry or flush it with water if it is still wet.
The floor of a passage way is purified when it is dry and people have walked over it. There is no specific requirement that forty steps or any other number should be made. It is merely that people have walked through the passage way and it has become dry.
A.2. According to the Hanafi school, the witr is offered in 3 rak’ahs together with a sitting for tashahhud after the second rak’ah. A special supplication, qunoot, is said just before bowing in the third rak’ah. An alternative method is to offer the 3 rak’ahs in two lots: two and one, with a complete stop in between. The qunoot is made after bowing in the third rak’ah, or not at all.
There is no requirement to follow a particular school of Islamic law. In fact, most people do not do so, either because they do not know the details of every view their school has, or because they look for evidence supporting each view. On the other hand, picking and choosing from scholarsí views according to convenience is not the right way. The proper way is to learn how to distinguish evidence supporting different views and to choose on the basis of the stronger evidence.
