A Deceased Leaves behind Just his Wife

“Muhammad Ibn Abi ‘Umayr Bayya‘ al-Sabiriy died and he made a will to me. He left behind his wife and no other heirs. I wrote to the virtuous servant (of Allah) about it and he (the Imam) wrote to me the answer that said, ‘Give one-fourth to the woman (his wife) and deliver the rest to us.’”

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), once read for me (from the book) on the issue of ordained shares of inheritance the following: ‘A woman dies and leaves behind her husband,’ he (the Imam) said, ‘The entire legacy belongs to him. If a man dies and leaves behind his wife, he (the Imam) said that one- fourth belongs to her and the rest belongs to the Imam.’”

“About the case of a woman who dies and leaves behind her husband, abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘One-fourth belongs to the woman and the rest belongs to the Imam.’”

“Once Muhammad ibn Hamzah al-‘Alawiy wrote to abu Ja‘far, al-Thaniy (a.s.), and asked, ‘One of your Mawla made a will to me about a hundred dirham and I heard him say, ‘Everything that belongs to me is for my Mawla.’ He died and left it but did not instruct to give anything from it. He has two women of whom one is in Baghdad whose address I do not know at this time and the other is in Qum; so what do you command me about the one hundred dirham?’ He (the Imam) wrote to him saying, ‘Find out how you can give from these dirham to the two wives of the man. Their rights in it is one-eighth if he has left any children but if he has not left any children, then it is one-fourth; and give the rest as charity to whomever you know is needy and deserving of charity, by the will of Allah.’”

“About the case of a man who dies and leaves behind his wife, abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘One-fourth belongs to her and the rest must be given to us.’”