Inheritance of People Drowned and because of the Collapse of a Structure on them

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a people who drown with a ship or a house falls on them and they die; and it is not known who has died first. He (the Imam) said, ‘They inherit each other and that is how it is in the book of Ali (a.s.).”’ Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Yunus from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn al- Hajjaj a similar Hadith except that he has said, ‘This is how we found in the book of Ali (a.s.).’

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah, Alayhi al-Salam, about a people on whom a house falls and they all die. It is not known who has died first. He (the Imam) said, ‘They all inherit each other.’ I then said, ‘Abu Hanifah has introduced something in it.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘What has he introduced?’ I said, ‘Two men who were brothers, one of them was my Mawla’ (slave) and the other was a Mawla’ of another man. One of them had one hundred thousand dirham and the other did not have anything. They embarked on a ship but they drowned and it is not known which one died first, the legacy belongs to the heirs of the one who had nothing and the heirs of the one who had the asset does not receive anything.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah, Alayhi al-Salam, said, ‘He (abu Hanifah) has heard it (the answer) and that is the way it is.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah, Alayhi al-Salam, about the case of a man and a woman on whom a wall falls and they die. He (the Imam) said, ‘The man inherits from the woman and the woman inherits from the man.’ I then said that abu Hanifah has introduced something in it.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘What has he introduced in it?’ I said that in the case of two non- Arab men who were brothers and had no heirs except their Mawla’ (Master) of whom one had one hundred thousand dirham, which was well known, and the other did not have anything. They embarked on a ship and they were drowned. The one hundred thousand dirham was taken out for distribution. He said that it all must be given to the Mawali of the one who had nothing. He (the Imam) said, ‘I do not deny what he has introduced; it is true and that is how it is.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘The asset must be given to the Mawali of the one who did not anything . The other brother did not have anything so that the Mawali of the other could inherit anything.’”

“One of the two Imam, (abu Ja‘far or abu ‘Abd Allah), ‘Alayhim al-Salam, has said that Amir al- Mu’minin issued a judgment in Yemen about a people on whom a house had collapsed and only two children were left, of whom one was owned and the other was free. He (the Imam) by means of raffle gave the assets to the one whose name came out and set the other one free.’”

“About the case of a man and a woman on whom a house falls, abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘The woman inherits from the man and the man inherits from the woman, which means that they inherit from the original of each other’s assets and not from what they inherit from each other.’”

“About the case of a man and a woman who die together because of plague on one bed and the hand and leg of the man are found on the woman, ’ Amir al-Mu’minin issued a judgment that gave the assets to the man because of his death after the woman.’”

“Once abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said to abu Hanifah, ‘O abu Hanifah, what do you say about the case of a people who all die because of the fall of a house? Only two children remain, of whom one is free and the other is a slave of his companion but it is not known which is which’ Abu Hanifah said, ‘One-half of this and one-half of this is set free and the asset must be divided between the two.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘It is not as that. By means of raffle whoever ’s name comes out is free and this one is set free to become the Mawla ’ (master) for him.’”