his paternal great-grandfather. But will all of them be entitled to it, or not? We shall mention this, Allah willing.

Accordingly, if only one person remains from among these four generations, he is entitled to the entire endowment. The evidence that kinship is restricted to these individuals is that the Prophet did not give from one-fifth of the spoils of war except to those who belonged to Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib (1). Hashim, in relation to the Messenger, was his third forefather, while Allah says, “and for near relatives” [al-Anfal 8:41]. This indicates that kinship is confined to these individuals. This is the position adopted by the author, and this is his evidence.

Some scholars exclude one’s children from the category of relatives, but the correct view is that they are not excluded, because his children are more closely connected to him than his forefathers, for they are a part of him, as the Prophet said concerning Fatimah: “She is a part of me” (2).

Some scholars said that relatives include everyone who shares with him the ancestor from whom he traces his lineage. It is known that tribes contain clans; thus, the first ancestor to whom this clan of the tribe traces its lineage—his descendants are the relatives. According to this view, it is not restricted to the third forefather; it may be the fourth or the fifth.

Some scholars said that kinship has no fixed limit; thus whatever