The jurists disagreed as to whether, once the father himself is manumitted, he “draws” the walāʾ of his sons to his own patrons. The majority—Mālik, Abū Ḥanīfah, al-Shāfiʿī, and their followers—hold that he does, and the same opinion is reported from ʿAlī, Ibn Masʿūd, al-Zubayr, and ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān.

ʿAtāʾ, ʿIkrimah, Ibn Shihāb, and a group of scholars maintained that he does not draw it. A similar view is related from ʿUmar; ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān even ruled accordingly after Qabīṣah ibn Dhuʾayb narrated the report to him from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb—though another narration from ʿUmar supports the majority.

The majority argue that walāʾ is analogous to blood-kinship, and lineage is traced through the father, not the mother. The second party counters that, since in matters of freedom the sons follow their mother, they should also follow her in its legal consequence, namely walāʾ.

Mālik further held that a grandfather draws the walāʾ of his grandchildren when their father is still a slave, unless that father is later emancipated; al-Shāfiʿī concurs. The Kufan jurists disagreed, reasoning that a grandfather’s walāʾ is established for his emancipator only through the paternal line; if the father has no walāʾ, the grandfather should have none either. Their principal argument is that the father’s continuing slavery is tantamount to his death, so the walāʾ must pass to the father’s father.

Among those who say that walāʾ belongs to the agnates there is, so far as I know, no dispute that sons have a stronger claim than fathers, and that it ascends to the higher line only when the lower line is missing—unlike the rules of inheritance. Filiation, they hold, gives a stronger agnatic bond than paternity; the father is weaker. According to Mālik, brothers and their sons have priority over a grandfather, whereas al-Shāfiʿī and Abū Ḥanīfah place the grandfather before them. The disagreement turns on who is closer in lineage and stronger in agnation.

No fixed share is taken through walāʾ; it is inherited purely by agnation. Thus, if the lower patron dies leaving no heirs at all, or heirs who do not cover the whole estate, the agnate is the higher patron. Likewise the higher patron becomes ʿāṣib for everyone with whom he has a direct lineal bond—that is, his daughters, his sons, and the sons of his sons.

A well-known question in this chapter is: If a woman dies while she possesses walāʾ, and leaves both a child and agnates, to whom does the walāʾ pass? One group ruled that it goes to her agnates, for they are the ones who pay blood-money on her behalf, and walāʾ belongs to the agnates; this was the view of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. Others said it belongs to her son—an opinion of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb that is followed by the jurists of the regional centers—though that position conflicts with the principle of the earlier authorities, since a woman’s son is not one of her agnates.

Here ends the Book of Inheritance Shares and Walāʾ. Praise be to Allah with praise truly His due.