INHERITANCE UNDER SUNNI LAW:

When a Mohammedan dies, the following three questions arise for consideration about the succession
to his estate:
1. Who are his possible heirs and successors?
2. Who among the possible heirs and successors are entitled to inherit, i.e., who are his actual
heirs?
3. What shares are to be allotted to the actual heirs?
The Hanafi Law deals with these problems as under:
1. THE POSSIBLE HEIRS AND SUCCESSORS:- For this purpose the persons entitled to inherit or
succeed are divided into:
i. Relations by Marriage and Blood- These are again sub-divided into three classes:
a) SHARERS: There are Twelve relations who have got certain prescribed shares.
b) RESIDUARIES: They are all Male agnates (descendants, ascendants and collaterals) and
only Four Females who are sharers but are converted into residuaries in some cases.
c) DISTANT KINDERED: This class covers all other blood relations.
ii. Unrelated Successors- They are the
a) Acknowledged Kinsman. Acknowledged Kinsman is a person of unknown descent in
whose favour the deceased has made an acknowledgment of kinship, not through
himself but through another, and
b) Universal Legatee. Universal Legatee is a person to whom the deceased had left the
whole of his property by will.
The above persons exhaust the list of possible heirs and successors. In the absence of the above possible
heirs, the property of the deceased would escheat to the State or the public treasury.
2. THE ACTUAL HEIRS OR SUCCESSORS:- All possible heirs cannot succeed at one and the same
time. Some have to be excluded by others. This results in the determination of what is called the
ORDER OF SUCCESSION. These are:
i. Those by which some classes are first excluded by other (e.g., sharers exclude residuaries, if
their shares exhaust the estate, otherwise they together exclude distant kindered);
ii. Those by which some heirs in each class are excluded by others.
These rules are separate for each class:
a) SHARERS- Some sharers are excluded by other heirs and some are converted into
residuaries.
b) RESIDUARIES- There are two sets of rules of exclusion-
I. Those which divide the residuaries into four classes and provide for some
exclusion of some classes by others;
II. Those which determine preference within each class.
c) DISTANT KINDERED- There are two sets of rules for them also-
I. Those which divide them into four classes and provide for exclusion of some classes by
others;
II. Those which determine preference within each class.

3. THE SHARERS:- For this purpose there are two sets of rules. Those which provide what shares
are to be allotted to the carious claimants. There are different rules for this purpose for each
class separately.
a) SHARERS- The extent of their shares is determined b