Chapter on the Inheritance of the Divorced Woman

It is well-known that the marital bond is one of the causes of inheritance that Allah has ordained, as He, exalted be He, says: “And you shall have half of what your wives leave behind if they have no child; but if they do have a child, then you shall inherit one quarter of what they leave, after payment of any bequest they may have made or debt” (Qur’an 4:12).

So long as the marriage contract remains in force, the right to inherit remains, unless a recognised impediment exists. When the marital tie is completely dissolved by divorce—what is called an irrevocable divorce (ṭalāq bāʾin)—the right to inherit is extinguished, for when the cause disappears, the effect disappears. Yet there are occasions in which the circumstances of the divorce prevent it from barring inheritance. Likewise, when the marriage contract has not been wholly severed, inheritance between the spouses does not cease while the woman is still in her waiting period (ʿiddah); this is known as a revocable divorce (ṭalāq rajʿī). For this reason, the jurists devote a distinct chapter to the inheritance of a divorced woman.

In summary, divorced women fall into three categories: