The second condition is that no inheriting descendant be present—whether direct children or grandchildren further down the line.
The third condition is that no inheriting male ascendant be alive, namely the father or a grandfather.
Maternal half-siblings are governed by five special rulings:
1 & 2. No preference is given to a male over a female among them, whether they inherit individually or collectively. Concerning the individual case, Allah says: “If a man or a woman dies leaving neither parents nor children but has a brother or a sister, each of them shall receive one-sixth” (4:12). Concerning the collective case, He says: “But if they are more than one, they share one-third equally” (4:12).
The term kalālah, according to the majority, refers to a deceased person who leaves neither child nor parent. Thus their inheritance is contingent on the absence of both child and parent: “child” includes male and female alike, while “parent” covers the father and the grandfather. The phrase “they share one-third” is proof that males have no advantage over females, for Allah has made them partners in the entitlement, and unrestricted partnership denotes equality.
The underlying wisdom—Allah knows best—is that they inherit solely through the bond of the womb. Their claim to kinship comes only through a female, and in that they are equal; there is therefore no reason to prefer the male to the female, unlike relatives connected through the father.
- A male maternal half-sibling inherits even though his link to the deceased passes through a female, whereas no other relation linked through a female alone inherits—for example, a daughter’s son.