He was asked—may Allah have mercy on him:
About a woman who died, leaving a husband, a daughter, her mother and a maternal half-sister: what is each of them entitled to?
He replied:
The estate is divided into eleven shares: six for the daughter, three for the husband and two for the mother. The maternal half-sister receives nothing, since she is excluded from inheritance by the daughter, by agreement of all the imams. This follows the position of those who uphold redistribution of the surplus, such as Abū Hanīfah and Ahmad.
According to those who do not uphold redistribution of the surplus, such as Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī, the estate is divided into twelve shares: six for the daughter, three for the husband and two for the mother, with the twelfth share going to the public treasury (*).
Section
The point here is that the scriptural texts encompass all legal rulings. We shall demonstrate this through some of the most difficult issues, thereby drawing attention to the rest. Inheritance law is among the most difficult of these.
We therefore say:
(*) Shaykh Nāsir ibn Hamad al-Fahd stated (p. 231):
This is how the answer appears in the Fatāwā. However, its attribution to the Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—should be checked and authenticated. The solution given here is mistaken because it includes the husband in the redistribution of the surplus (radd), whereas, according to the majority, the husband does not receive any such redistribution. Some have even reported a consensus on this (1). This majority includes the imams mentioned here: Abū Hanīfa and Ahmad.
Had the statement here not been attributed to the imams Abū Hanīfa and Ahmad, we would have said that it was one of the Shaykh’s own positions in which he differed from them. However, he states this position and attributes it to them, which gives greater reason to question its attribution to him (2). The correct division is into sixteen shares: four for the husband, three for the mother, and nine for the daughter. And Allah Most High knows best.
(1) See the chapter on radd in the inheritance section (Kitāb al-Farā’id or al-Mawārīth) of all works of jurisprudence. See, for example, al-Mughnī, 9:48.
(2) We are not claiming here that the Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—was immune to mistakes and errors. Allah forbid! Rather, he was a human being, subject to these things like anyone else. However, the issue before us is clear, and its ruling is among the best-known matters in inheritance law. It is therefore unlikely that the Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—would have made such a mistake. The attribution of this fatwa should thus be verified. And Allah Most High knows best.