Muwatta Imam Malik (Riwayat Yahya)

It is narrated from Hazrat Zaid bin Aslam that Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, asked the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, about kalalah. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The verse that was revealed in the summer, at the end of Surah An-Nisa, is sufficient for you."

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In our view, there is no difference of opinion in this matter that there are two types of kalalah. One is the verse that is at the beginning of Surah An-Nisa, where Allah Almighty said: "If a man dies as kalalah or a woman dies as kalalah and he has a brother or a sister (from the mother), then each of them shall receive a sixth; but if they are more than that, then they shall share in a third." This is the kalalah who has neither a father nor offspring, because until then, maternal brothers and sisters were not heirs. The second is the verse at the end of Surah An-Nisa, where Allah Almighty said: "They ask you about kalalah (inheritance), say: Allah gives you a ruling concerning kalalah: If a man dies and has no child, and he has a sister, she will have half of what he leaves; and he will inherit from her if she has no child. If there are two sisters, they will have two-thirds of what he leaves. If there are brothers and sisters, the male will have the share of two females. Allah makes clear to you, lest you go astray. Allah knows all things." This is the kalalah in which brothers and sisters become 'asabah (residuary heirs). When the deceased has no son, then with the grandfather, they will inherit in kalalah.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that the grandfather will inherit along with the brothers, because he has more right than them, since the grandfather also inherits a sixth share with the son, unlike the brothers and sisters. And because the grandfather is not equal to the brother; even in the presence of the deceased’s son, he takes one-sixth, so why should he not receive a third with the brothers and sisters? This is because uterine brothers and sisters take a third with full brothers and sisters. If the grandfather is also present, he will deprive the uterine brothers and sisters, then he will take the third for himself, because he is the one who deprived them. If he were not present, the uterine brothers and sisters would have taken that third. So the grandfather took the share that could not be received by the full or paternal brothers and sisters, rather it was the right of the uterine brothers and sisters, and the grandfather had more right than them, so he took it and deprived the uterine brothers and sisters.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Then we did not know of anyone who, from the beginning of Islam until today, made any grandmother other than these two grandmothers an heir.