English
Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Polytheists are allies of one another. We do not inherit from them, nor they from us. [Narrated by Muhammad] He said: We adopt this. Disbelief is one nation, and they inherit through it even if their religions differ. A Jew inherits a Christian, and a Christian inherits a Jew, but Muslims neither inherit from them nor are inherited by them. This is the view of Abu Hanifah and most of our jurists.
Commentary and footnotes (2)
Note 1
(1) The statement: Polytheists are allies of one another—They differed on the inheritance of people of different religions among disbelievers. The view of Malik and Ahmad is that they do not inherit from one another if they are of different religions, such as a Jew and a Christian, or others among disbelievers if their religions differ. Abu Hanifah and Shafi’i said: They are one nation, all disbelievers, so they inherit from one another. As stated in Rahmat Al-Ummah. The meaning in the hadith of Abdullah ibn Umar, People of two different religions do not inherit from one another, is Islam and disbelief, as all disbelievers are one nation when compared to Muslims, even if they consider themselves of different religions. As stated in Al-Marqah.
Note 1
(۱) قوله: المشركون بعضهم أولياء بعض إلخ واختلفوا في توريث أهل الملل من الكفار، فمذهب مالك وأحمد لا يرث بعضهم بعضا إذا كانوا أهل ملتين كاليهودي والنصراني، وكذا من عداهما من الكفار إن اختلفت ملتهم، وقال أبو حنيفة والشافعي: إنهم أهل ملة واحدة، فكلهم كفار يرث بعضهم بعضًا. كذا في رحمة الأمة»، والمراد في حديث عبد الله بن عمر، ولا يتوارث أهل ملتين شتى الإسلام والكفر؛ فإن الكفرة كلهم ملة واحدة عند مقابلتهم بالمسلمين، وإن كانوا أهل ملل فيما يعتقدون. قاله في «المرقاة».