is accompanied by a fixed-share heir, he takes what remains; but if the prescribed shares exhaust the estate, he receives nothing, because he inherits without a prescribed share. A distant kindred heir is anyone who inherits neither by a prescribed share nor as a residuary heir. This will be explained in detail, Allah willing.

“Thus, the fixed-share heirs are ten: the spouses, the two parents, the grandfather and grandmother, the daughters, the son’s daughters, the sisters of every category, and the maternal siblings…”

His statement, “Thus, the fixed-share heirs are ten,” means that the fixed-share heirs number ten.

The first and second are indicated by his statement, “the spouses,” meaning the husband and the wife.

The third and fourth are indicated by his statement, “the two parents,” meaning the mother and the father. This is an instance of using the masculine form inclusively, as the sun and moon are called “the two moons,” and Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, are called “the two Umars.”

The fifth and sixth are indicated by his statement, “the grandfather and grandmother.” In the case of the grandfather, however, the condition is that no female may intervene between him and the deceased. Thus, the paternal grandfather inherits, as does the father’s paternal grandfather, because no female intervenes between either of them and the deceased. The maternal grandfather does not inherit, because a female intervenes between him and the deceased.

For a grandmother to inherit, two conditions are stipulated:

First: no male preceded by a female may intervene between her and the deceased. For example, a grandmother connected through the mother’s father does not inherit, because she is connected through a male preceded by a female.

Second: according to the well-known position of the madhhab, she must not be connected through a father above the grandfather. This condition is disputed. For example, the father’s mother inherits, because she is connected through the father and therefore inherits from his direct descendants. The father’s father’s mother is connected through the grandfather and therefore inherits. But the father’s father’s father’s mother does not inherit according to the madhhab, because she is connected through a father above the grandfather. Thus, the rule is that the mothers of the father, however many generations removed through mothers, inherit; and the mothers of the grandfather, however many generations removed through mothers, inherit; whereas the mothers of the grandfather’s father, however many generations removed through mothers, do not inherit. However, this condition is weak,