820 – Ibn Masʿūd (d. 32 AH) related that, in a case involving a daughter, a son’s daughter, and a sister, “the Prophet ﷺ ruled that the daughter is to receive one-half, the son’s daughter one-sixth—thereby completing the two-thirds—and whatever remains goes to the sister.” Reported by al-Bukhārī (1).
Lessons derived from the report
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A single daughter takes one-half of the estate so long as she is not converted into an agnatic heir (ʿaṣaba) through the presence of a brother or brothers.
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Together with the daughter, a son’s daughter is allotted one-sixth, completing the two-thirds, provided she is not turned into an agnatic heir by a brother of the same degree. This one-sixth is due to all grand-daughters through the son, even if they are more than one.
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Whatever remains after the fixed shares of the daughter and the son’s daughter passes to the sister—whether she is a full sister or a paternal (consanguine) sister—by way of agnation.
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When sisters inherit alongside daughters, they become agnatic heirs. Scholars of the law of inheritance describe them as “agnatic with others,” for agnation in one’s own right belongs only to males, save the woman who earns it by emancipating a slave.
As al-Raḥabī phrased it:
“Among women there are no agnatic heirs at all,
Except the one who gains that rank by freeing a slave.”