Islamic Inheritance: Fixed Shares and Residual Heirs Explained

Islamic Law of Inheritance: Issues of Aṣḥāb al-Furūḍ and ʿAṣabah​

Author: Imran Ayyub Lahori


Core Principle: In the division of inheritance, distribution begins with the Aṣḥāb al-Furūḍ (fixed-share heirs), and whatever remains goes to the ʿAṣabah (residuary) relatives.


Report of Ibn ʿAbbās (RA):
نبی کریم ﷺ کا فرمان:
«ألحقوا الفرائض بأهلها فما بقى لأولى رجل ذكر»
References: [Bukhārī: 6746 …]


(Nawawī): There is ijmāʿ on this issue. [Sharḥ Muslim: 6/60]
(Khaṭṭābī): “لأولى رجل ذكر” means the nearest male among the ʿaṣabah. [Maʿālim al-Sunan: 4/97]


Definitions:

• ʿAṣabah: Those heirs of the deceased who do not have fixed prescribed shares. [al-Farā’iḍ, p. 36]
• Aṣḥāb al-Furūḍ: Those whose shares are fixed. The six fixed shares are:
  ① نصف (½) ② ربع (¼) ③ ثمن (⅛) ④ ثلثان (⅔) ⑤ ثلث (⅓) ⑥ سدس (⅙) [al-Farā’iḍ, p. 40]

Sisters as ʿAṣabah with Daughters; Completing Two-Thirds with Granddaughter​

Just as a person may inherit the residue as ʿaṣabah after paying the fixed shares to Aṣḥāb al-Furūḍ, sisters inherit the residue alongside daughters.


① Ruling of the Prophet ﷺ (via Ibn Masʿūd RA):
«للا بنة النصف ولابنة الابن السدس تكملة الثلثين وما بقى فللأخت»
References: [Bukhārī: 6736 …]


② Decision of Muʿādh b. Jabal (RA) in Yemen (while the Prophet ﷺ was alive):
«جعل لكل واحدة منهما النصف»
References: [Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd: 2516 …; Bukhārī: 6734]


(Shawkānī): These aḥādīth establish that a sister becomes ʿaṣabah with a daughter. [Nayl al-Awṭār: 4/123]
The earlier ḥadīth «للابنة النصف…» also supports this.


Analogies & Related Rulings:

• Paternal (consanguine) sister takes السدس (⅙) with a full sister to complete the two-thirds, by analogy with granddaughter receiving ⅙ with a daughter.
• Grandmothers (jaddāt): In the absence of the mother, both paternal and maternal grandmothers get السدس (⅙).

Evidences for Grandmothers’ Shares:

• Reports of Abū Bakr (RA) and ʿUmar (RA) affirming السدس for the grandmother(s), with narrations from al-Mughīrah b. Shuʿbah and Muḥammad b. Maslamah, etc. [Muwaṭṭaʾ …; Abū Dāwūd: 2894 …]
• Ḥadīth: «أن النبى جعل للجدة السدس إذا لم يكن دونها أم» [Abū Dāwūd: 2895 …]
• Two grandmothers share السدس between them. [Zawāʾid al-Musnad …]
• Report of three grandmothers receiving السدس (mursal).

Fiqh Summary on Grandmothers:

• Fixed share: ⅙, even if they are multiple, as long as they are of the same degree (mother’s mother and father’s mother are equal; no superiority).
• If degrees differ, the nearer excludes the more remote.
• Who excludes them? The mother excludes both sides; the father excludes only from his side.
  References: [Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab 14/516; Mughni al-Muḥtāj 3/12; …]

Grandfather’s Share (Jadd): ⅙ When Not Excluded​

① Ḥadīth of ʿImrān b. Ḥuṣayn (RA):
«لك السدس … إن السدس الآخر طعمة»

• The fixed is ⅙; any additional sixth is ṭuʿmah (a provisional grant when furūḍ are few), not perpetual.
  References: [Abū Dāwūd: 2896 …]

② Report with ʿUmar (RA) and Maʿqil b. Yasār (RA):
«ورثه رسول الله السدس» [Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd: 2517; Abū Dāwūd: 2897]


Consensus Note:

• Grandfather is not an heir in the presence of the father. [Fatḥ al-Bārī: 15/244]
• The sound and preferred view: Grandfather gets ⅙, unless excluded. [al-Farā’iḍ, p. 42]

Exclusion of Siblings by Son, Grandson, or Father​

• No khilāf among scholars: Sons, then sons’ sons, and father exclude brothers and sisters from inheritance. [al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 2/693]
• When the son exists, he takes the residue after furūḍ; in his absence, the grandson, and if none, then the father.

Brothers with Grandfather:

• Differing views among the Ṣaḥābah; no explicit naṣṣ, hence ijtihād.
  
  • View 1 (Abū Bakr, Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn ʿUmar, … Abū Ḥanīfah): Brothers do not inherit in presence of the grandfather.
    Dalāʾil: Grandfather is in the position of the father; and “closest male agnate” principle.
  • View 2 (ʿAlī, Ibn Masʿūd, Zayd b. Thābit; Shāfiʿiyyah, Mālikiyyah, Ḥanābilah): Brothers inherit with the grandfather, sharing between them.
    Dalāʾil: Qur’ānic inheritance of brothers remains unless a naṣṣ/ijmāʿ prevents it; both reach the deceased via one degree (the father).
    (Rājiḥ Indication): Ibn Ḥajar, citing al-Bukhārī, strengthens Abū Bakr’s position and the tacit ijmāʿ in his era. [Fatḥ al-Bārī: 15/245]

Brothers as ʿAṣabah with Daughters​

Ḥadīth of Saʿd b. Rabīʿ’s Daughters (RA):
The Prophet ﷺ allotted two-thirds to the two daughters, ⅛ to the mother, and the remainder to the brother (ʿaṣabah).
Reference: [Aḥmad …; Abū Dāwūd: 2892 …]
Implication: Brothers inherit as ʿaṣabah with daughters.
Note: Maternal siblings do not inherit alongside daughters in this scenario, per ﴿وَإِن كَانَ رَجُلٌ يُورَثُ كَلَالَةً…﴾ where the ijmāʿ is that the verse refers to maternal siblings. [Qurṭubī; Fatḥ al-Qadīr]

Paternal Brothers vs. Full Brothers​

Report from ʿAlī (RA):
«… وإن أعيان بنى الأم يتوارثون دون بنى العلات …»
Meaning: The full (consanguine) brother inherits, the uterine or half-through-father does not inherit over the full brother.
References: [Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 1667; Aḥmad …; Tirmidhī: 2094 …]
(Shawkānī): No known disagreement. [Nayl al-Awṭār: 4/122]
(Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān): Ijmāʿ affirmed. [al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 2/695]

Key Takeaways (Concise)​

◈ Start with Aṣḥāb al-Furūḍ → then residue to ʿAṣabah.
◈ Sister becomes ʿaṣabah with daughter; granddaughter gets ⅙ with a daughter to complete ⅔.
◈ Grandmothers’ fixed share: ⅙ (shared if same degree; nearer excludes farther).
◈ Grandfather: ⅙ (when not excluded by father); exclusion by father is agreed.
◈ Siblings are excluded by son, grandson, or father.
◈ Brothers inherit with daughters as ʿaṣabah; maternal siblings do not in that case.
◈ Full brother has precedence over consanguine/uterine in inheritance hierarchy as established.


ھذا ما عندی واللہ أعلم بالصواب