anything than he was concerning kalalah, until he poked me in the chest with his finger and said: ‘O Umar, is the summer verse—the one at the end of Surat al-Nisa—not enough for you?’ If I live, I shall issue concerning it a judgment by which both one who reads the Quran and one who does not read the Quran will judge.” (1)

His statement, “Is the summer verse not enough for you?” means that Allah, exalted is He, revealed two verses concerning kalalah: one in winter, namely the verse at the beginning of Surat al-Nisa; and the other in summer, namely the verse at its end. The latter contains clarification not found in the winter verse, and for this reason he referred him to it.

Allah, exalted is He, says: “And if he has a brother or a sister, then for each one of them is a sixth.” What is meant here, by consensus, is a maternal brother or sister. Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas recited: “And if he has a brother or a sister through his mother.” Although a man and a woman had been mentioned previously, He did not say, “for the two of them,” in accordance with the Arabic usage whereby, when two nouns are mentioned and then something is predicated of them, and they are equal in the ruling, the predicate may sometimes be attached to one of them and sometimes to both of them. An example is His saying, exalted is He: “Seek help through patience and prayer; indeed, it is difficult” (al-Baqarah -153).

“If there are more than that, then they are partners in one-third.” There is consensus that, when maternal siblings are two or more, they share equally in one-third, whether male or female.

Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, said in his sermon: “Indeed, the verse which Allah, exalted is He, revealed at the beginning of Surat al-Nisa concerning the prescribed shares was revealed regarding children and parents. The second verse concerns the husband, the wife, and maternal siblings. The verse with which He concluded Surat al-Nisa concerns full brothers and sisters. And the verse with which He concluded Surat al-Anfal was revealed concerning blood relatives: some of them are nearer to others in the Book of Allah.”

“After any bequest which is made or debt, without causing harm”—that is, without harming the heirs by exceeding one-third in the bequest. Al-Hasan said: This means that he bequeaths payment of a debt that he does not owe. “An ordinance from Allah; and Allah is All-Knowing, Most Forbearing.” Qatadah said: Allah disliked causing harm both in life and at death, forbade it, and sternly warned against it.

“Those are the limits set by Allah; and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, He will admit him into gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever. That is the great attainment (13). But whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits, He will admit him into the Fire, abiding therein forever, and he will have a humiliating punishment (14).”

“Those are the limits set by Allah,” meaning the prescribed shares that He has mentioned. “And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, He will admit him into gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever. That is the great attainment.”

“But whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits, He will admit him into the Fire, abiding therein forever, and he will have a humiliating punishment.” 80/b The reciters of