of a revocable divorce, because a woman in that waiting period is still regarded as a wife.
The jurists’ phrase “a valid marital contract” deliberately excludes an invalid contract; no inheritance passes by way of a defective marriage, for such a contract is treated as nonexistent.
- Walāʾ (emancipation allegiance). This is an agnatic bond that arises from the beneficence of the emancipator toward his slave by setting him free. Inheritance through walāʾ operates in one direction only: the emancipator inherits from his freedman, but not the other way round. After the emancipator’s death the right of walāʾ passes to his own agnatic relatives by themselves, not to those who are agnates through, or together with, others.
The proof that walāʾ establishes inheritance is the Prophet’s statement, “Walāʾ is a bond like the bond of lineage.” Ibn Ḥibbān recorded it in his Ṣaḥīḥ, as did al-Ḥākim, who declared it sound. By likening emancipation allegiance to blood kinship—and kinship undoubtedly warrants inheritance—the ḥadith confirms that walāʾ does the same, a point on which there is consensus. In the Two Ṣaḥīḥs the Prophet ﷺ also said, “Walāʾ belongs only to the one who set the slave free.”
Classes of heirs by sex
The heirs, when viewed by sex, are of two kinds: males and females.
The male heirs are ten in number:
- The son, and the son’s son—however remote provided all the links are males—because Allah says, “Allah instructs you concerning your children: for the male, the equivalent of the share of two females” (Q 4:11). A grandson counts as a son, just as the Quran addresses “O children of Adam” and “O children of Israel,” making the generic term “children” include descendants further down the line.