the daughters receive the full two-thirds share and there is also a son’s child, and similar questions on which disagreement is recorded from ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, Ibn Masʿūd, Zayd, Ibn ʿAbbās, and other Companions.

The leading authorities in this field, however, are five: ʿUmar, ʿAlī, Ibn Masʿūd, Zayd, and Ibn ʿAbbās. Although they disagreed more over inheritance than over other matters, it is well known that the great majority of inheritance rulings are known with certainty—indeed, they are explicitly stated in the Quran. Someone who gives people fatwas on inheritance may distribute a thousand estates according to explicit Quranic provisions upon which there is consensus before encountering a single disputed case. Indeed, years may pass without his encountering a case involving disagreement.

As for cases governed by explicit texts and consensus, answers are continually required for as long as people continue to die, since the inheritance of everyone who dies must be governed by a ruling. For this reason, none of these disputed cases arose during the lifetime of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), despite the continual occurrence of deaths and inheritances. Moreover, whenever anyone died during the lifetime of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)—despite the continual occurrence of deaths and inheritances, and whenever anyone died during the lifetime of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)—no deceased person’s property was ever placed in a public treasury or distributed among the Muslims as fay revenues and funds for public welfare were distributed among them.

But when the lands were conquered and the Muslims grew numerous during ʿUmar’s rule, it came about that