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Is it permissible for the eldest brother not to sell the family home and to withhold his siblings' rights, and is it permissible for him to stipulate that the two objecting brothers pay the fees for extracting the house title deed if it is sold to someone outside the family?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The inheritance is divided among sons and daughters by ta'sib (agnatic succession), with the male receiving the share of two females. The inheritance is divided into ten shares: each son receives two shares, and each daughter receives one share. If the heirs wish to sell their share in the house, the brother who is a co-owner has a greater right to purchase it than others, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Whoever has a partner in a plot of land or palm trees, he is not permitted to sell until he informs his partner. If he agrees, he may take it; if he dislikes it, he may leave it." If it is sold to someone else without his consent, he has the right to reclaim the share through pre-emption (shufa'a). As for the costs of obtaining the house's title deed (ownership papers), they are determined according to the prevailing law. If the buyer is responsible for them, then the brother has no right to demand them from you. If the seller is responsible for them, then all heirs share in paying them in proportion to each one's share. In case of dispute, recourse must be made to the Sharia courts or by consulting specialized scholars, as no heir is permitted to prevent the sale of the house if some heirs request it and the house cannot be divided. It is recommended to refer to the Sharia court to resolve the dispute.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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