Muwatta Imam Malik (Riwayat Yahya)

Sayyiduna Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote (a letter) to Sayyiduna Zaid bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked about the inheritance of the grandfather. Sayyiduna Zaid bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote in reply that you asked me about the inheritance of the grandfather, and this is an issue in which the caliphs used to give rulings. I was present before the two caliphs before you (Sayyiduna Umar and Sayyiduna Uthman, may Allah be pleased with them), so with one brother they would give the grandfather half, and with two brothers, a third. Even if there were many brothers and sisters, they would not give the grandfather less than a third.

Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) gave the grandfather as much as people give nowadays.

It is narrated from Sulayman bin Yasar that Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him), and Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) allotted one-third to the grandfather along with brothers and sisters.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that according to us, this ruling is agreed upon that the grandfather is deprived (of inheritance) in the presence of the father, but with the son and grandson, the grandfather receives one-sixth as an obligatory share. If there is no son or grandson, nor full brothers or sisters, nor half-brothers or sisters, but there are other heirs with fixed shares, then after giving them their shares, if one-sixth or more remains, it will be given to the grandfather. If that much does not remain, then the grandfather's one-sixth share will be fixed as obligatory.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that if the grandfather and his brothers and sisters are present along with any of the possessors of fixed shares (dhawi al-furud), then first the possessors of fixed shares will be given their prescribed shares. After that, whatever remains, one of several options will be chosen for the grandfather, whichever is better for him. These options are: one is that the grandfather is given one third of whatever wealth remains. The second is that the grandfather is considered as one of the brothers, and he receives the same share as one brother. The third is that he is given one sixth of the total wealth. Whichever of these options is better for him, that will be done. After giving the grandfather his share, whatever wealth remains will be divided among the brothers and sisters as «﴿لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الْأُنثَيَيْنِ﴾», except in one case where the division will be done differently (this is called the Mas’alah Akdariyyah). That is: if a woman dies and leaves behind a husband, mother, full sister, and grandfather, then the husband will get half, the mother one third, the grandfather one sixth, and the full sister half. Then the grandfather’s one sixth and the sister’s half will be combined and divided into three parts: two parts will go to the grandfather and one part to the sister.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: If there are paternal half-brothers along with the grandfather, their ruling is the same as that of full brothers. And when there are full brothers and sisters as well as paternal half-brothers and sisters, the paternal half-siblings will only be counted among the brothers to reduce the grandfather’s share, but they will not receive anything. However, in the case where there are maternal siblings along with full brothers and sisters, the maternal siblings will not be counted among the brothers to reduce the grandfather’s share, because maternal brothers and sisters are deprived in the presence of the grandfather. If the grandfather is present and only maternal siblings are there, then the entire estate goes to the grandfather and the maternal siblings are deprived. Now, in the case where there are full brothers and sisters and paternal half-brothers and sisters along with the grandfather, whatever remains after giving the grandfather his share will go entirely to the full brothers and sisters. The paternal half-siblings will not receive anything, except when among the full siblings there is only one sister and the rest are all paternal half-brothers and sisters, then due to the paternal half-brothers and sisters, that full sister will reduce the grandfather’s share, then she will take her full share, that is, half. If anything remains after that, it will be distributed among the paternal half-brothers and sisters as per «﴿لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الْأُنثَيَيْنِ﴾», and if nothing remains, then the paternal half-brothers and sisters will not receive anything.