Section
When a grandfather inherits together with full or paternal half-siblings—male or female—he is treated as though he were one of them. If no fixed-share heir is present, he may choose the more advantageous of two options: either to share with the siblings proportionately (muqāsamah) or to take one-third of the entire estate.
If a fixed-share heir does exist, the grandfather is entitled to whichever is more beneficial to him: one-third of what remains after that heir’s portion, or one-sixth of the entire estate.
Should only one-sixth remain after the fixed-share heir has taken his or her portion, the grandfather receives that sixth and the siblings are excluded—except for the full or consanguine sister in the case known as the Akdariyyah.
That case comprises a husband, a mother, a grandfather, and a sister. The husband receives one-half, the mother one-third, and the grandfather one-sixth; a half is also allotted to the sister, so the estate is increased by the rule of ʿawl (augmentation) to nine⦗1⦘ shares. The combined portion of the grandfather and the sister is then divided between them in a ratio of four to three, bringing the final calculation to twenty-seven shares.
When a paternal half-sibling is present together with a full sibling, the full sibling may count the half-sibling against the grandfather if doing so is advantageous, and then takes whatever would have gone to the half-sibling—unless the full sibling is a single sister, in which case she receives the full half-share and whatever remains passes to the paternal half-sibling.
Among the situations produced by this are the four Zaydi cases:
- the Ten-share case, consisting of a grandfather, a full sister, and a paternal half-brother; and
- the Twenty-share case, consisting of a grandfather, a full sister, and two paternal half-sisters.