and has the stronger claim to inherit. If he has no brothers’ sons, then their sons inherit; if they have no sons, then their sons’ sons inherit, however far down the line, in the order we have described. Whenever they are equal in degree of kinship, but one has a closer relationship to the emancipator through a mother, that person has the stronger claim to inherit. If they are equally related, they share equally in the inheritance.

If the father has no sons or sons’ sons, or had them but their lines have died out, then his father—the grandfather—has the strongest claim to patronage. If the grandfather is no longer alive, then his sons, who are the paternal uncles, inherit. If one of them has a closer relationship to the emancipator through a mother, he has the stronger claim to inherit. If they are equally related, they share equally in the inheritance. If there are no paternal uncles, then their sons inherit. If there are no sons of paternal uncles, then their sons’ sons inherit, however far down the line, in the order we have described for brothers’ sons. Whenever they are equal in degree of kinship but one is more closely related to the emancipator, he has the stronger claim to inherit. If they are equal in this respect, they share equally in the inheritance.

If the grandfather has no sons or sons’ sons, or had them but their lines have died out, then the grandfather’s father has the strongest claim to inherit. If the grandfather’s father is no longer alive, then his sons inherit; if there are no sons, then his sons’ sons inherit, in the order we have described for brothers and their sons, and paternal uncles and their sons. If he has no sons, then his sons’ sons inherit in the order we have described. If the grandfather’s grandfather has neither sons nor sons’ sons, then the grandfather’s father inherits. This continues indefinitely, however distant their lineage and however far their branches extend.

If their lines have died out and none of them remains, the inheritance belongs to the Muslim community by virtue of the bond of Islam, unless the patron who emancipated him had himself been emancipated. In that case, patronage belongs to his patron’s patron, and then to whoever is entitled to it through that patron, as we have explained regarding the transfer of patronage from the emancipating patron. It then belongs to the patron of his patron’s patron, and thereafter to whoever is entitled to it through him, as we have explained.

If the patron who emancipated him had not himself been emancipated, but was free by birth and had never been emancipated, then it belongs to his father’s patron, and thereafter to whoever is entitled to it through him, as we have explained. If the patron who emancipated him had no established paternal lineage—having been born of fornication or having had his paternity disavowed through sworn imprecation—or if his father was a slave, or if he was a slave or an unbeliever, then his patronage belongs to his mother’s patron, and thereafter to whoever is entitled to it through him, as we have explained. If his mother was free without having been emancipated, then his patronage belongs to her father’s patron. If her father was a slave or an unbeliever, or if she had no established paternal lineage—having been born of fornication or having had her paternity disavowed through sworn imprecation—then his patronage belongs