Resolution No.(8) by the Board of Iftaa`, Research and Islamic Studies:

  "Ruling on an Heir Inheriting the Person that he had Killed"

Date: 6/4/1407AH, 7/12/1986 AD

Question: What is the ruling on an heir receiving a share from the one that he had killed for the motivation of inheritance?
Answer: Praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds.
The Board is of the view that the husband`s killing of his wife is unlawful, so it has decided that in this particular case, the killer doesn`t inherit the killed. In fact, this is the view of the Hanafite`s juristic school and it is effective in the Jordanian Civil Status Law. This is also the view of all juristic schools, which stipulate that a killer (an heir) is excluded from inheriting the killed in case of unlawful killing, whether it was intentional, or accidental. This is supported by what was narrated after the Prophet (PBUH) who said (What means): “An heir receives no inheritance from the person that he killed" ([1]). And Allah Knows Best.

([1]) Related by Abu Dawood in [Al-Sunn] - The Diyat Book/Organ's Diya Chapter. Hadith No.(4564) taken from the Narration of Amr Ibn Sho'aib who related from his father from their granfather. Al-Baihaqee commented in [AL-Sunn Al-Kobra] by saying: "The authentication of this Hadith is taken from other Hadithes"