among the Muslims, whereas anything he acquired during the period of his apostasy is treated as public booty.

If several people drown together, or a wall collapses upon them and it is impossible to determine who died first, each person’s estate is distributed to those of his heirs who survived him.

Should a Magian combine two lines of kinship which—had they occurred in two separate persons—would allow one to inherit alongside the other, he inherits on the basis of both ties. A Magian, however, does not inherit through the invalid marriages that they nevertheless deem lawful in their religion.

The agnate for a child born out of wedlock and for a child repudiated through mutual imprecation (liʿān) is the patron who manumitted the mother.

According to Abū Ḥanīfa, when a man dies leaving a pregnant wife, his estate is held in abeyance until she gives birth.

In Abū Ḥanīfa’s opinion the grandfather has priority over the brothers; Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad hold that he shares with them unless such sharing would reduce his portion below one-third.

When several grandmothers are present, the sixth is granted to the one nearest in degree. The grandfather excludes his own mother, and the mother of the maternal grandfather does not inherit by a prescribed share; every grandmother blocks her own mother.

Chapter: Uterine Relatives (dhawū al-arḥām)

If the deceased leaves neither agnates nor quota-heirs, the estate devolves upon his uterine relatives, who comprise ten categories: the daughter’s children; the sister’s children; the brother’s daughter; the daughter of a paternal uncle; the maternal uncle; the maternal aunt; the mother’s father; the paternal half-uncle through the mother; the paternal aunt; and the son of a maternal half-brother—together with all who trace their connection through any of these.

The most entitled are the deceased’s own descendants; next come the descendants of both parents—or of either of them—namely the brothers’ daughters and the sisters’ children; thereafter come the descendants of the grandparents—or of either of them—namely the maternal uncles, maternal aunts, and paternal aunts.

When descendants from a single forefather stand on the same generational level, preference is given to the one who is connected through an heir, and the nearer relative precedes the more distant; thus the mother’s father outranks the nephew or niece.

Where no agnate exists, the manumitting patron takes any residue left after the quota-heirs have received their shares; failing him, a contractual ally (mawlā al-muwālā) inherits.

If a manumitter dies leaving both the freedman’s father and the freedman’s son, the estate goes to the son. Abū Yūsuf, however, assigns one-sixth to the father and the remainder to the son. If he leaves the freedman’s grandfather and the freedman’s brother, the estate belongs to the grandfather according to Abū Ḥanīfa, whereas Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad divide it between them.

The right of patronage (walāʾ) may neither be sold nor gifted away.