Chapter: The Grandmother’s Share of Inheritance
The grandmother intended here is the true grandmother (al-jadda al-ṣaḥīḥa). She is every grandmother who reaches the deceased through one of the following lines:
- A chain consisting solely of females, such as the mother’s mother and her successive female ascendants;
- A chain consisting solely of males, such as the father’s mother, the mother of the father’s father, and the mother of the father’s father’s father; or
- Females followed by males, such as the mother of the father’s mother and the mother of the father’s father’s mother.
By contrast, the grandmother whose link to the deceased passes through males and then females—for example, the mother of the mother’s father or the mother of the father’s mother—is reckoned among the uterine relatives (dhawu al-arḥām) and therefore does not inherit.
In short, the inheriting grandmother is the one related through an unbroken chain of females, an unbroken chain of males, or females followed by males. The non-inheriting grandmother is the one whose connection runs through males and then females; put differently, her link falls between two women, one of whom is herself.
The evidence that a grandmother inherits is drawn from the Sunnah and from consensus.
From the Sunnah is the report of Ibn Dhuyayb, who said: “A grandmother came to Abu Bakr and asked him about her share of inheritance. He replied, ‘You have nothing in the Book of Allah, and I know of nothing for you in the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger; go back until I ask the people.’”