First: The Almighty’s statement, “Blood relatives are nearer to one another in the Book of Allah” (Q 33:6); that is, in Allah’s judgment some of them have a stronger claim to the inheritance of others.

Second: The general wording of His saying, “For men there is a portion of what parents and close relatives leave behind, and for women there is a portion” (Q 4:7). The terms “men,” “women,” and “close relatives” encompass womb-relatives as well. Whoever alleges that the verse is restricted must bring proof.

Third: The Prophet ﷺ said, “The maternal uncle inherits the one who has no other heir.” It was transmitted by Ahmad, Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah, and al-Tirmidhī, who graded it “sound–good.”

The point of evidence is that the Prophet made the maternal uncle—who is a womb-relative—the heir when no fixed-share or agnatic heir exists; therefore, the same ruling applies to the rest of the womb-relatives.

These are some of the proofs advanced by those who affirm the inheritance rights of womb-relatives. That view is reported from a group of Companions, among them ʿUmar and ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with them both). It is also the doctrine of the Ḥanbalīs and the Ḥanafīs, and the second opinion within the Shāfiʿī school when the estate is not consigned to the public treasury.

The scholars who recognize the inheritance of womb-relatives have differed over the manner in which they inherit. The most famous disagreement centers on two opinions:

1. They inherit by substitution (tanzīl): each womb-relative is placed in the position of