We know of no disagreement among the people of knowledge that the apostate does not inherit from anyone. This is the view of Malik, al-Shafi'i, and the scholars of reasoning (Ashab al-Ra'y), and we know of no disagreement from others regarding this. This is because he does not inherit from a Muslim, due to the saying of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "A disbeliever does not inherit from a Muslim." He also does not inherit from a disbeliever because he differs from him in the ruling of religion, as he is not permitted to remain in his state of disbelief, thus the legal status of the people of the religion to which he transitioned is not established for him. For this reason, neither the meat of their slaughtered animals nor the marriage to their women is lawful, even if they were to transition to the religion of the People of the Scripture. Furthermore, the established and settled properties of the apostate cease to be his, so it is more appropriate that no property be established for him in the first place. If two people who are heirs to one another both apostatize and one of them dies, the other does not inherit from him, for the apostate neither inherits nor is he inherited from. If the apostate returns to Islam before the inheritance is divided, it is divided for him according to what we will mention in the following issue, if Allah the Almighty wills.
Section: The zindiq (heretic) is like the apostate in what we have mentioned. The zindiq is one who outwardly displays Islam while concealing disbelief; he is the hypocrite. He was called a hypocrite in the era of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and he is called a zindiq today. Ahmad said: The property of the zindiq is in the public treasury (bayt al-mal).
Section: If one of the spouses apostatizes before consummation, the marriage is annulled immediately, and neither inherits from the other. If the apostasy occurs after consummation, there are two narrations: one is that the separation is accelerated, and the other is that it is suspended until the expiration of the waiting period (idda), and whichever of them dies, the other does not inherit from him. The ruling of both of them apostatizing together is the same as the ruling of one of them apostatizing regarding the annulment of the marriage and the prevention of inheritance.
(1) Its source has been cited previously on page 155. (2) From here to the end of the section is omitted from A and M. It was written in the margin of the original in a different handwriting: "Repeated later, if Allah wills." It appears with more detail in the second section of the following issue, just as the details regarding the inheritance of the zindiq, which was discussed in the previous section, appear in the first section of the following issue.
