An introduction to Shari'a succession

The overall aim of this article is to provide an introduction to Islamic inheritance law. In the first section, the authors look at the sources of Islamic law generally (Shari’a). This assists in developing an understanding of the Shari’a succession rules discussed in part two, the main section of this article. In particular, the concept of dividing the deceased's estate in accordance with Shari’a is highlighted, together with ways of avoiding a fragmented estate, a common end result which can be detrimental to family businesses. The penultimate section of this article discusses some of the practical issues that need to be dealt with when somebody dies, including how to obtain a Certificate of Inheritance which is the document issued by the Shari’a court detailing how the deceased's estate is to be distributed. Finally, a case study applies the previous theoretical discussion to the context of a real-life situation.