This ruling, then, covers a wife whose husband dies whether the marriage had been consummated or not, and she receives her share of the estate just as we explained.
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Inheritance and Investment Partnership (muḍāraba)
Question: My father passed away and left behind a daughter who was three years old and a son who was four. Their mother has since remarried and left me in charge of raising them. She took her share of the inheritance after my father’s death. Now, after many years, the boy and girl have both married and are demanding a share of what I have earned since my father died, bearing in mind that I alone used to work alongside him during his lifetime. Do they have the right to claim anything from what I acquired after my father’s death, or does it belong to me alone? Please advise—may Allah reward you with goodness.

Answer: Everything that was earned before your father’s death belongs in part to your younger brother and sister, because it formed part of their deceased father’s estate. You were obliged to make an exact inventory of it, safeguard it for them, spend on their upkeep from it, and—once they reached maturity—hand over to them whatever remained after their maintenance expenses had been met.

As for what you earned after your father’s death: if the original capital with which you traded was the same capital that had been jointly owned by you and your father before he died, then they are also entitled to a share of the profits, because this is deemed an investment partnership (muḍāraba). In other words, if the capital you worked with was part of the common property between you and your late father, they have a right in its returns as well. However, if the capital was entirely your own and you invested only your personal assets after your father’s death, then they have no claim to it, for it is your own acquisition and property.

In any case, the matter involves two parties, and if you both take the dispute to the court