the grandfather and siblings, there is an heir with a prescribed share, that heir receives their share first. The grandfather then shares the remainder with the siblings, unless one-third of the remainder or one-sixth of the entire estate is more advantageous to him. He thus receives whichever of these three options is most advantageous. Whatever falls to full or paternal half-siblings alongside grandfathers in these inheritance divisions is shared among them, with each male receiving the share of two females. If both kinds of siblings are present, the full siblings take whatever was allotted to the paternal half-siblings in the division, and the paternal half-siblings receive nothing alongside them. The exception is where there is only one full sister and more than half the estate remains after the grandfather and the heirs with prescribed shares have received their portions. In that case, whatever exceeds one-half goes to the paternal half-siblings.

If the prescribed shares, together with the grandfather’s one-sixth, exhaust the estate, the siblings receive nothing, whether male or female, except in the case called al-Akdhūba. This is where a woman dies leaving a husband, a mother, a grandfather, and a full or paternal half-sister. The husband receives one-half, the mother one-third, and the grandfather one-sixth, while one-half is allotted to the sister. The grandfather’s one-sixth and the sister’s one-half, as affected by proportional reduction, are then combined and divided between them, with the male receiving the share of two females. The estate is therefore divided into twenty-seven shares: nine for the husband, six for the mother, eight for the grandfather, and four for the sister.

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The grandfather’s share alongside full or paternal half-siblings is not reduced below one-third when there is no heir with a prescribed share, or below one-third of the remainder when such an heir is present. This is because maternal half-siblings, in the absence of full or paternal half-siblings, are allotted one-third as a prescribed share, which is reduced only through proportional reduction. Since the grandfather excludes them from that third, his own share must not fall below it: had there been maternal half-siblings, they would have received that third.

It has been reported from Mālik, may Allah have mercy on him, concerning a husband, a mother, a grandfather, paternal half-siblings, and maternal half-siblings, that the husband receives one-half, the mother one-sixth, and the grandfather the one-third from which he excludes the maternal half-siblings. The paternal half-siblings receive nothing alongside him, since, had the grandfather not been present, they would have received nothing alongside the maternal half-siblings. He therefore has a stronger claim than they do to the entire third from which he excludes the maternal half-siblings. This inheritance case is attributed to Mālik and is called al-Mālikiyya because he adopted this ruling and because his reasoning in it is sound. Success comes only from Allah.

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A Muslim and a disbeliever do not inherit from one another. A disbeliever’s estate therefore passes to those of his own religion, unless he is a slave