Thus, these four males—the son, the grandson through a son, the full brother, and the consanguine (paternal) brother—enable their sisters to inherit alongside them by virtue of becoming ʿAṣabah through them. Any males other than these, such as the sons of brothers, paternal uncles, or the sons of paternal uncles, do not confer any inheritance on their sisters.
Section Three: ʿAṣabah together with another (maʿa al-ghayr)
This class comprises two sub-types:
- One full sister or more when accompanied by one daughter or more, or by one son’s daughter or more.
- One consanguine sister or more when accompanied by one daughter or more, or by one son’s daughter or more.
This is the opinion adopted by the majority of scholars among the Companions, the Successors, and those who followed them: both full and consanguine sisters become ʿAṣabah in the presence of daughters or granddaughters through a son. Their evidence is the report collected by all the major compilers except Muslim and al-Nasaʾi:
“A daughter, a son’s daughter, and a sister were presented to Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him). He ruled, ‘The daughter receives one-half and the sister one-half.’ He then said to the questioner, ‘Go to Ibn Masʿūd.’ When the man reached Ibn Masʿūd and informed him of Abu Musa’s ruling, he replied, ‘You would indeed be astray if you judged so, and I would not be among the rightly guided. I will pass the verdict given by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: the daughter receives one-half, the son’s daughter one-sixth, completing two-thirds, and whatever remains goes to the sister.’”
As for the ʿAṣabah in their own right, if any one of them is the sole heir he takes the entire estate, in accordance with the Almighty’s words: “and he shall inherit her if she has no child” (Qur’an 4:12). In this verse the brother inherits all of his sister’s property. This exclusive ruling applies only to the ʿAṣabah in their own right, yet they share with every other category of ʿAṣabah the rule that, when they are present together with the quota-holders, they receive whatever remains after the prescribed shares have been distributed;