Question: I am a Muslim woman. Two months ago, my husband died in Dubai. I have two children — a boy and a girl — and my husband has two brothers and two sisters. I have been living at my parent’s house separated from my husband for more than a year but officially not divorced. Do I have the right as per the Sharia to inherit the property that belonged to my husband? Are my husband’s brothers and sisters entitled to inherit his legacy? What is the court procedure to be followed in this regard?

Answer: I would like to clarify to the questioner that she shall ask the Sharia Court to issue a Decree of Distribution, and the questioner shall present two Muslim witnesses before the court. The witnesses are required to be aware of the deceased person and his family members so as to explain to the Sharia Court who the relatives of the deceased are. The court will issue a Doctrinal Certificate in which it will state the rightful heirs of the deceased. The questioner, as a wife of the deceased, has the right along with her two sons to inherit from the legacy as long as she was not divorced. As for the question on the brothers and sisters of the deceased, they do not have the right as per the Sharia to inherit from the legacy.

Official holidays

Question: I am an employee of a company. My company does not give employees the official holidays. Which are the official holidays to be given to employees as per the UAE Labour Law? Is the employer legally obliged to give such holidays? The employer has made all employees sign an internal letter stating that all official holidays mentioned in the labour law are not applicable for us and no one would ask for those holidays. Do we have the right to ask for official holidays even if we have signed the letter agreeing to not getting them? The company is paying us for overtime work but they calculate our overtime pay based on our basic salaries not the overall salaries. Is this calculation correct according to the UAE Labour Law?

Answer: Article 74 of the Federal Labour Law No. 8 of 1980 states the following: “Each worker shall be entitled to official holiday with pay on the following occasions: Islamic New Year — one day;

New Year’s Day (Christian) — one day; Eid Al Fitr — two days;

Eid Al Adha — three days; Prophet’s birthday — one day; Isra Wal Miraj (Ascension of the Prophet) — one day; and National Day — one day.” The questioner is entitled to all these official holidays as per the labour law even if the employer has made him sign a letter stating that he is not entitled to them. Finally, the employee, as per the UAE Labour Law, has the right to get his overtime pay based on the full salary, not based on the basic salary.

— Questions are answered by lawyer Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants