A bequest disinheriting an undutiful son

A question on a man's bequest that his undutiful son be denied inheritance, which Egypt's Dar al-Ifta answered is invalid. ¹

The questioner said a man had died leaving a son who had been undutiful to him, and had made a bequest that the son be denied inheritance. ¹ He asked what the ruling on the bequest is, and whether the son inherits from his father's estate. ¹

Dar al-Ifta answered that undutifulness to parents is forbidden and a major sin, and that honouring them is an obligation on children. ¹ It held, however, that undutifulness does not cancel rights, among them inheritance, which passes into the heir's ownership by force of law without the choice of heir or deceased. ¹ The bequest to disinherit the son is therefore invalid in its view, and he takes his share unless one of the recognised impediments to inheritance applies. ¹ It advised the son to make up for the duty he failed in by seeking forgiveness for his father, giving charity on his behalf and keeping his ties of kinship. ¹

Egypt's Dar al-Ifta published this fatwa on its site as no. 9032, dated 10 August 2026, in its inheritance category, among the fatwas of Grand Mufti Nazir Ayyad. ¹ The museum records this answer as a historical text attributed to its author; it issues no ruling of its own.