their prescribed portions, distributed in proportion to those portions; and if no fixed-share heir exists, the estate is transferred to the dhawū al-arḥām (uterine kin). These are the relatives other than those already named, and they comprise ten classes: 1) the mother’s father, 2) every grandfather or grandmother who has been excluded by someone nearer, 3) the children of daughters, 4) the daughters of brothers, 5) the children of sisters, 6) the daughters of maternal brothers, 7) the maternal uncle, 8) the daughters of paternal uncles, 9) the paternal aunts, and 10) the maternal uncles and aunts together with those whose descent is traced through any of them.
Section
The fixed shares laid down in the Book of Allah are six:
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One-half, allotted to five heirs: a husband whose deceased wife leaves neither child nor son’s child; a single daughter; a single granddaughter through a son; a single full sister; or a single consanguine (paternal) sister.
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One-quarter, allotted to two heirs: a husband when his wife leaves a child or son’s child, and a wife (or wives) when her husband leaves neither child nor son’s child.
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One-eighth, allotted to a wife (or wives) when her husband leaves a child or son’s child.
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Two-thirds, allotted to three groups: two or more daughters; two or more granddaughters through a son; and two or more full or consanguine sisters.
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One-third, allotted to a mother when the deceased leaves no child or son’s child, and to two or more maternal siblings. The one-third may also be assigned to a grandfather when he inherits alongside siblings.
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One-sixth, allotted to seven heirs: the father or the grandfather when the deceased leaves a child or son’s child; the mother when the deceased leaves a child, a son’s child, or two or more siblings; the grandmother; a granddaughter through a son when inheriting with a daughter; one or more consanguine sisters when inheriting with a full sister; and a single maternal sibling.
Section
No one can exclude the father, the son, or the husband from inheritance. A grandson through a son is excluded only by a son or by a nearer grandson.