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One of the biggest challenges in the Islamic Rules of Inheritance is that the concept is outside of the normal experience for most people. It is not something that we readily understand, nor is it often explained to us being part of Islam.    It is half of all useful knowledge according to a hadith. In my view, there is a desperate need for this knowledge to spread.

I spend much of my time educating people about Islamic Estate Planning one on one. Sometimes, I go through months without ever explaining why it is daughters get half the Inheritance of boys.  Some months, it’s always coming up in conversations.   I recently had a wonderful discussion with a 13-year-old girl, who met with me to answer questions about her father’s Islamic Estate Planning.  But America is different no?  Is the Islamic Estate Planning Attorney a misogynist?  

For those who are open-minded, including young people, these rules and the desire of Muslim family members to follow those rules as obedience to Allah is easy to understand.  Your legacy on this earth is you following the command of Allah; prayer, fasting, charity, Hajj, and doing justice as best as you can with your family, your neighbors, and everybody else.  Doing an injustice as your parting shot as you leave this world is not something a Muslim would ever want to do.

Why are the Rules What they are?

I am not going to pretend to understand why the rules are what they are. I can only explain what they mean to me and how  beneficial these rules are for society. The rules of Inheritance that are in the Sharia are probably not the rules most of us would come up with on our own.   We also won’t come up with praying five times a day on our own.  It’s not about what we would do if we made up our own religion; it is about what Allah has ordained that we do.  Inheritance is too essential to a strong system of families and a community, and we can easily confuse justice with vanity if left to our desires.   In my experience, heirs get this, even if they end up not being especially religious.  

We do our best.  We hope our children think well of us and make dua for us.  We pray we do not raise children who would withhold their prayers for their dead parents that followed Allah’s command on inheritance. I have never heard of that happening before, I doubt you have either.  

Yorba Linda Masjid

I am speaking at the Masjid for the first time since the pandemic sort ended and came back again.  Being back at the Masjid is essential for all of us, including our children.  If you are in or near Yorba Linda, please feel free to bring your family.  I will be talking about Islamic Estate Planning for a relatively short keynote.  Would you please stop by and say Salam if you do come? 

To schedule a 15-minute mini-consultation on Islamic Estate Planning, click here.

I have been seeing more and more clients invested in cryptocurrencies. In some instances, it has not done anything yet, but it has been life-changing for them in others. I started learning about cryptocurrencies to understand their appeal and, more importantly, how to do Islamic Estate Planning for them appropriately.  

I have a new Guide/ Frequently Asked Questions on the subject available here. It covers basics for Muslims who are unfamiliar with the relatively new asset class (but also old, since it is, after all, currency) and subjects like storage, succession, and zakat. It is not investment advice. 

Check out the FAQ

Share it with any friends or family members who have been curious about the subject.  

To schedule a 15-minute zoom call to discuss the Islamic Estate Planning Process, click here. Please feel free to share this with anyone else that may benefit from it.

Estate Planning is all about looking towards a future that by its nature, is uncertain.  Saving for college is not a sure thing, since children grow up to not go to college, or go without needing parents to pay for it. One of the most popular programs is known as a “529 plan.”  I added a “Frequently Asked Questions” on 529 plans for parents who may be interested.

I have a collection of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on Islamic Inheritance and Islamic Estate Planning questions here.

To schedule a 15-minute zoom meeting on Islamic Estate Planning and learn about the process, you can click here.

I have written about Zakat for years now, often out of concern this  pillar of Islam is more like a ruin at the moment, thanks to the way Muslim nonprofits treat it.  This includes one of my more widely read essays (written with Sh. Osman Umarji), “This article could be zakat eligible.”

Uplift is really an antidote to a lot of what is happening in the Muslim nonprofit world when it comes to zakat.  There is no real conflict between your mission as a zakat donor and their mission.  They endeavor to get it right. I do know there are other Muslims who care about getting zakat as right as we can make it.  Perhaps you are one of those people.  Get to learn about their work in my review of the organization here.

Also

For any of your friends and families who want to do their Islamic Estate Planning, you can click on my calendar link for a 90-minute appointment (to do the planning) here. I have a comprehensive FAQ on Islamic Estate Planning the the process for getting it done here.

For a 15-minute appointment just to discuss the process, you can click here.

Ramadan Mubarak to you and yours.

As I do every Ramadan, I wanted to delve into Zakat.  This month I expect to write several articles related to Zakat (as opposed to the usual one).  Ever wonder what Muslim nonprofits consider Zakat-eligible?

• A $5,000 honorarium for a speaker?
• An advertising campaign on Google?
• Buy the hors d’oeuvres for an intimate fundraising dinner?

Welcome to the rule-free, practically post-apocalyptic world of “Zakat-eligible” Muslim nonprofits, where some Muslim leaders treat fiqh the same way a teenager thinks of a high school dress code.  I wrote a guide on how to distinguish between worthy places to donate, and the kinds of places you should seriously consider avoiding.

You can check it out here.  My goal that zakat not be an exercise in getting away with nonsense, but that we as donors consider the economic impact of our zakat.

If you or any of your friends and family are exploring doing an Islamic Estate Plan, a link for my 15-minute mini-consultation to go over the process is here.