—and a number of scholars held that every grandmother, however many they may be, inherits so long as they are on the same generational level, except for the one who is linked through a father who himself does not inherit, such as the mother of the father of the mother. Others restricted the inheriting grandmothers to just three: the mother’s mother, the father’s mother, and the mother of the paternal grandfather.

For a grandmother to inherit, the mother must be absent, because the grandmother’s claim passes through her; and anyone who inherits through an intermediary is barred by that intermediary—except in the explicit exemptions. By unanimous agreement the mother precludes the grandmother from every line.

How the grandmothers inherit:

1. If a single grandmother is present and there is no mother between her and the deceased, she receives one-sixth, as stated earlier; she never takes more than that. The view that she may take one-third when the deceased leaves no children and no plurality of siblings, by analogy with the mother’s share, is anomalous and not relied upon.

2. If several grandmothers are present:
   a. When they are all on the same level, they share the one-sixth equally. The Companions apportioned it in that way, and because they are a group of females with no male counterpart, a plurality is treated like a single individual—just as with co-wives—and none has a factor that would give her preference.
   b. If one of them is closer to the deceased, the entire one-sixth goes to her alone, whether she is on the maternal or paternal side, and the more remote grandmother is excluded. All of them are “mothers” who share a single prescribed portion; so when they come together at different levels, the portion belongs to the one nearest.

The grandmother who is the father’s mother inherits even while the father is alive, and the grandmother who is the grandfather’s mother inherits even while the grandfather is alive. In these cases she is not barred by the ascendant through whom she is linked, contrary to the general rule that whoever inherits through an intermediary is blocked by that intermediary. This exception is based on what Ibn Masʿūd—may Allah be pleased with him—said regarding the grandmother who came with her son: “She was the first grandmother whom the Messenger of Allah …”