A man’s father was a government officer and a freedom fighter. After his father’s death, the son asked about the monthly pension and the freedom fighter allowance. His questions: how, under Sharia, should his father’s monthly pension and freedom fighter allowance be divided among his mother, brothers and sisters after his death? Who gets how much? And must zakat and qurbani be paid from that money on behalf of his late father? The questions were answered by Sheikh Dr Abul Kalam Azad Madani, chairman of Safeer Education in London.
He wrote in reply:
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله، أما بعد:
May Allah forgive your father, accept his good deeds and grant him Jannatul Firdaus. Amen.
Your question is very important, because three matters need to be understood separately here: the deceased’s inheritable property; the family pension or allowance the government pays after death; and the rulings on zakat and qurbani for the deceased.
The rulings on these three are not the same in every case.
1. Are the pension and the freedom fighter allowance inheritance (mirath)?
In Islam, property owned by the deceased is divided among the lawful heirs according to set rules. But the financial benefits the government gives to family members after a death are not always counted as property left by the deceased.
There are two situations here.
First situation: money due during the father’s lifetime. Salary, pension, allowance or any other money your father became the owner of while alive, but could not collect before he died, will generally form part of his estate.
Such money will be divided according to the Sharia rules of inheritance.
Second situation: money paid to the family after the father’s death. If, after his death, the government newly pays a family pension or freedom fighter honorarium allowance to his wife, children or named beneficiaries, that money is different in nature.
If, under the relevant law and rules, it is the own entitlement of a named living beneficiary, it does not automatically become part of the deceased’s inheritance.
So it would not be right to treat the monthly family pension and the freedom fighter allowance directly as inheritance and divide them between sons and daughters in a 2:1 ratio. The relevant government rules and the ownership of the money must be established first.
2. Who is entitled to how much of a Bangladesh government pension?
According to guidance published by the Bangladesh government’s Pension and Fund Management Office, the original pensioner, his wife and an eligible disabled child may be covered by the provision for a lifelong family pension. For other children, age, marital status and the applicable conditions are taken into account.
So if your mother is alive and is the lawful beneficiary of the family pension, the brothers and sisters cannot divide her entitlement among themselves simply because they are heirs.
On the other hand, if a child is also a sharer in the pension under a government order, that child’s set entitlement must be protected.
The same basic principle applies to the freedom fighter honorarium allowance. Who receives the allowance after death, and how, must be decided according to the applicable rules and sanction orders of the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs. New notifications on these government allowances and benefits were also issued in 2026.
For this reason it is not possible to give a fixed percentage for your mother, brothers and sisters right now.
3. How will the father’s actual inheritable property be divided?
Allah says:
يُوصِيكُمُ اللَّهُ فِي أَوْلَادِكُمْ لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الْأُنْثَيَيْنِ
That is: “Allah instructs you concerning your children: for the male, a share equal to that of two females.” (Surah An-Nisa, 4:11)
And on the wife’s share when the deceased leaves children, Allah says:
فَإِنْ كَانَ لَكُمْ وَلَدٌ فَلَهُنَّ الثُّمُنُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُمْ
“But if you have a child, then for them (the wives) is an eighth of what you leave.” (Surah An-Nisa, 4:12)
That means that, in your father’s actual inheritable property, your mother (if she was his only wife) will generally receive one-eighth, or 12.5 percent.
The rest will be divided among the children, each son receiving two shares and each daughter one share.
This calculation applies only if, at the time of your father’s death, his parents or any other heir with a fixed share were not alive, and there is no other relevant bar.
For example, if there are a wife, two sons and two daughters and no other heirs, then after settling necessary debts and any valid bequest, the inheritable property will be divided as follows: wife 12.5 percent, first son 29.1667 percent, second son 29.1667 percent, first daughter 14.5833 percent, second daughter 14.5833 percent. This calculation is only for inheritable property; it does not automatically apply to a government family pension or an allowance paid after death.
4. Must zakat be paid on behalf of the late father?
Two matters are separate here.
First, zakat left unpaid in the father’s lifetime. If zakat was obligatory on your father while he was alive and he died without paying it, the matter must be taken seriously.
Jurists differ on paying unpaid zakat from the deceased’s property. In Hanafi fiqh in particular, if the deceased left no bequest, paying zakat from his property is not considered obligatory on the heirs, though the heirs may pay it voluntarily from their own shares. According to other schools, unpaid zakat is payable from the deceased’s property.
So if the amount of your father’s unpaid zakat is known, it should be settled with the help of a reliable scholar.
Second, the pension and allowance received after the father’s death. No new zakat becomes obligatory in the father’s name after he dies. But whoever lawfully comes to own the pension or allowance will add this money to his or her other zakatable wealth.
If that person’s wealth reaches the nisab and the applicable conditions are met, zakat becomes obligatory on that person. The usual rate of zakat is 2.5 percent. In other words, there is no rule that zakat must be paid every year in the late father’s name from pension money owned by the mother. But if zakat is obligatory on the mother herself, she will pay it.
5. Must qurbani be given every year on the father’s behalf?
No. Giving qurbani every year in the late father’s name is not obligatory on the children. Qurbani is due from a living person according to his or her means and the applicable rulings of fiqh.
According to Hanafi fiqh, qurbani is wajib on an adult, sane, resident Muslim who, during the days of qurbani, holds wealth at the nisab level beyond basic needs.
So whichever of your mother, brothers or sisters has qurbani wajib on them will give it on their own behalf.
The children may, if they wish, give a voluntary (nafl) qurbani for their father so that its reward reaches him. This can be a meritorious act, but doing it every year is not obligatory.
If your father left a valid bequest about qurbani, its ruling must be considered separately.
6. What should you do now?
First, collect your father’s pension sanction order, the sanction order for the freedom fighter allowance, and the details of the heirs.
The actual entitlements must be worked out from the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs’ 2020 order on distributing the honorarium allowance, its 2021 amendment, and its 2025 clarification on the rates due when there are several heirs.
Another important point: under the government rules on the freedom fighter honorarium allowance, a surviving wife may in certain circumstances receive the full allowance, while if there are several eligible beneficiaries it may be divided differently. So it cannot be treated the same as the Quran’s general shares of inheritance.
In short: 1. The father’s actual estate will be divided according to Sharia inheritance. 2. A family pension and freedom fighter allowance paid by the government after death go to the lawful recipient under the relevant government rules. 3. No new zakat becomes obligatory in the late father’s name, but if he left zakat unpaid in his lifetime, its ruling must be considered. 4. Giving qurbani every year in the father’s name is not obligatory, though voluntary qurbani and charity may be given for him. 5. Before setting the correct shares for the mother and the brothers and sisters, it is essential to check the government sanction orders and the details of all heirs.
May Allah keep love, justice and harmony among you and grant your father the best reward.
آمين يا رب العالمين
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report