Can a Muslim Convert Inherit From Her Non-Muslim Parents When They Die?

Sidi, I am a convert, Alhamdulillah. If my father dies, do I inherit from him?

Assalamu alaikum,

The four schools of sunni Islam are agreed that a Muslim does not inherit from a non-Muslim.

Usama ibn Zayd (Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) said, “A believer does not inherit from an unbeliever, and an unbeliever does not inherit from a believer.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudama (d. 620 AH), the great Hanbali imam said in his work of comparative fiqh, al-Mughni (6: 4946)

“(A Muslim does not inherit from a non-Muslim, nor a non-Muslim from a Muslim…) The people of knowledge are in consensus that the non-Muslim does not inherit from a Muslim. The overwhelming majority of the Companions and jurists have said that the Muslim does not inherit from a non-Muslim. This is reported by Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Usama ibn Zaid, and Jabir ibn Abd Allah (Allah be pleased with them). It is the position of Amr ibn Uthman, Urwa, Zuhri, Ata’, Tawus, al-Hasan, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, Amr ibn Dinar, Thawri, Abu Hanifa and his companions, Malik, Shafi`i, and the fuqaha in general. And this is the acted on position… Ahmad said, “There is no difference among people [f: i.e. among the jurists] that the Muslim does not inherit from a non-Muslim.”

This is why Imam al-Tumurtashi stated, among the four things that prevent inheritance, “And difference in religion.” Imam al-Haskafi explained this as, "Between a Muslim and non-Muslim." [al-Durr al-Mukhtar `ala Tanwir al-Absar, 6: 727]

And Allah alone gives success.

Wassalam,

Faraz Rabbani.