BY TAQI USMAN
| A: In the light of the rules of the Pension Funds Act 1956 mentioned by you it appears that the grants given to the dependents of a deceased person from the Pension Fund are not subject to the rules of inheritance. The amounts deducted at source from the salaries of the employees are to be treated as a subscription to the Fund which no longer remain in the ownership of the deceased person and perhaps he has no right to claim it back during his life time. The principle is that only those properties of a deceased person are subject to inheritance rules which he can claim rightfully during his lifetime. Since he does not have the right to claim any amount from the fund, therefore, it is not to be taken as left-over property. The fund being a legal entity it can decide to pay this grant to whomever it deems fit from the family of the deceased. In the terminology of Islamic Fiqh this grant is a voluntary gift (Tabarru’), therefore, it is not necessary that it is to be distributed among all the legal heirs according to their prescribed shares in the inheritance.
I have given judgment in a Shariah Appeal fixed before the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan with regard to the benevolent fund which is very similar to the Pensions fund you have asked about. (A copy is being sent to you by mail for your perusal and record). |