Let me first extract the translation that have provided from Adullah Yusuf Ali for verse 4:11; and 4:12. I quote;
“(Koran 4:11)
Allah directs you as regards your children's (Inheritance): to the male a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters, two ormore, Their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one, her, share is a half. For parents, a sixth share of the inheritance to each, if the deceased left children; if no children, and the parents are the heirs, the mother has a third; if the deceased left brothers the mother has a sixth...
(Koran 4:12)
In what your wives leave, your share is a half, if they leave no child; but if they leave a child, ye get a fourth; after payment of legacies and debts. In what ye leave, their share is a fourth, If ye leave no child; but if ye leave a child, they get an eighth; after payment.”
Now your claim is that, according to the above verses, if a man dies and leaves three daughters, two parents and his wife, three daughters together will receive 2/3 of the share, the parents will receive 1/3 of the share and the wife will receive 1/8 of the share.
If you read the Qur’an in Arabic you will see that at the beginning of 4.11 Allah uses the plural word in Arabic ‘awlaad’ for “…your children’s (inheritance)…” but then Allah uses the singular word in ‘walad’ for “…if the deceased left a child...” Therefore, the above translation, ‘if the deceased left children’, is incorrect as the Qur’an uses the word walad and not awlaad, and walad is the Arabic word for a child, or one child, where as awlaad is the word for more than one child or children. Pickthall and many other Quran translators have given a proper translation.
Now let us look at 4.11 a little closer. We are told that two or more daughters (if and only if the man dies with no sons) will receive 2/3’s of the man’s inheritance. We are also told that the parents will receive a sixth (1/6) of the man’s inheritance if the deceased left a child (not children) (to each, thus we take 1/6 + 1/6 = 2/6 or 1/3). In the example that you provided, there are more than one child. Therefore, the Quran does not fix here the share of the parents as 1/3 in this particular instance. The share of the wife will be 1/8 as per verse 4:12.
Now let us test this out. Let’s use the scenario stated by you. A man dies and leaves behind three daughters, his parents, and a wife. Because we are not told what his parents will get if he haschildren,we must then substitute a variable in place of his parents, and we get the following simple equation: 2/3 (for daughters from verse 4:11) + 1/8 (for wife from verse 4.12) + X (for parents) = 1 (using 1 as 100% the man’s wealth) Let’s solve this.
2/3 + 1/8 = 19/24
19/24 + X = 1
X = 1 – 19/24
X = 5/24
And this works as 2/3 + 1/8 + 5/24 is indeed equal to 1.
I hope that you now understood how to distribute wealth in the given scenario provided by you. Now let us look at the second claim.
You also claim that there is a further discrepancy in this matter in the case of a man who leaves a mother, a wife, and two sisters. You are arguing that if the allotted shares are added up the total exceeds the total estate, i.e, 1/3 (mother) + 2/3 (sisters) + 1/4 (wife) = 5/4 = 1.25 will be more than the available property.
You are again mistaken. To arrive at the said allotted shares, here you refers to the shares allotted in Surah 4, verse 176 of the Qur’an. You have conveniently quoted only part of the verse (“...If it is a man that dies, leaving a sister but not child) Please take the Quran and check what is there in the dotted portion. I will quote for you the entire verse.
“Allah directs (thus) about those who leave no descendants or ascendants as heirs. If it is a man that dies, leaving a sister but no child, she shall have half the inheritance: If a woman dies and leaves no child, her brother takes her inheritance: If there are two sisters, they shall have two-thirds of the inheritance. If there are brothers and sisters, the male takes twice the share of the female.
In the above verse, the case described is that of a man who is called in Arabic "kalalah" which is correctly translated by Yusuf Ali as one who leaves "no descendants or ascendants." This ayah refers to a man who leaves neither parent nor child. At the time of his death his mother already lays in her own grave and as such can lay no claim to a share of inheritance. Then how can you come with an example of a man leaving behind a mother, two sisters and wife and then evolve your fantasies based on this verse?
Also see:
http://www.call-to-monotheism.com/the_inheritance_law__by_ansar_al__adl http://www.answering-christianity.com/quran/ma_addup.htmhttp://www.answering-christianity.com/sami_zaatri/rebuttaltoalisina3.htmDifferent answers found here:
https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/1408/how-to-solve-the-following-problem-regarding-distribution-of-inheritance-shareshttp://theislampath.com/smf/index.php?topic=4709.0
