as witnesses to the contract of sale. I then took the purchase price from him as a loan, and after he passed away I paid the funeral expenses. Next, I bought a cow to slaughter as an udhiyah (sacrificial offering) on his behalf. Does this cow that I sacrificed for him count as payment for the land, seeing that he has another heir—his brother? And with regard to the money that is still left, do I have any right to it, does it all belong to my uncle, or do none of us have any right to it? What should I do with it in this situation?

Answer: As for your purchase of the land from your uncle, if the purpose behind it was to deprive the other heirs and to keep the land for yourself—meaning it was a sham transaction (taljiʾah) carried out to exclude the heirs and show favoritism toward you—then the sale is invalid, and the land forms part of the deceased’s estate.

Regarding the cow you slaughtered for your uncle after his death: if your uncle had stipulated that in a will, there is no problem; it is deemed an udhiyah provided it was done within the prescribed days of sacrifice and you carried it out accordingly. However, if your uncle did not bequeath it, then its cost must come from your own wealth, not from your uncle’s estate, because it is impermissible for you to dispose of any of his property after his death; it now belongs to the heirs.

As for the inheritance itself, you have no share in it so long as your uncle (the deceased’s brother) is alive. If he is a full brother or a paternal half-brother of the deceased, you are barred from inheriting because your right is blocked by your uncle. If, however, he is only a uterine brother—meaning he and your father share the same mother—then he inherits nothing, and the estate goes to you, the questioner, along with any other eligible heirs. In summary, the inheritance belongs to the deceased’s full or paternal half-brother, and the nephew receives nothing while such a brother exists.