And if it is said, “If the father does not benefit them, should he not at least cause them no harm?”

The reply is: On the contrary, he may harm them just as he may benefit them. Consider a case in which there is one maternal half-sibling and numerous full siblings: the maternal half-sibling alone receives one-sixth, while all the remainder goes to the full siblings. Were it not for the father, they would share one-third with that single sibling. If the father’s presence can benefit them, it can also deprive them of inheritance. Thus, it is clear that it can harm them.

Furthermore, the principles of inheritance rest on the rule that a combined kinship through a male and a female is not treated as two separate ties. A full brother is not treated as either a paternal half-brother or a maternal half-brother. He does not inherit solely through his maternal relationship, just as he does not inherit solely through his paternal relationship; rather, he inherits through the combined relationship through both parents.

The maternal relationship is treated separately only when it constitutes an independent tie. An example is that of two paternal cousins, one of whom is also a maternal half-brother. Here, the majority hold that the maternal half-brother receives one-sixth, and the two share the remainder. This is reported from ʿAlī. It is reported from Shurayh that he awarded the entire estate to the maternal half-brother, treating him as though he were a cousin through a full paternal uncle. The majority, however, say: Both stand equally as paternal cousins, whether through a full paternal uncle or a paternal half-uncle. The maternal sibling relationship is independent, not combined with the other tie in a way that would make him equivalent to a cousin through a full paternal uncle.

Another illustration clarifying the ruling in the “shared-inheritance case” is that, if the heirs included paternal half-sisters, they would be assigned two-thirds, and the prescribed shares would be proportionately reduced. Yet if their brother were present with them, they would receive nothing. He is therefore called the “ill-fated brother.” Because his presence makes them residuary heirs, he sometimes benefits them and sometimes harms them. His presence is not treated as absence when it harms them. Likewise, since the paternal tie