some of them as a view transmitted from Ahmad. Those who allow siblings to inherit alongside the grandfather are ‘Alī, Ibn Mas‘ūd and Zayd, each of whom held a distinct position of his own. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb remained undecided on the matter. The correct position is undoubtedly that of al-Siddīq, for numerous reasons we have set out elsewhere.

As for “the two ‘Umarī inheritance cases,” nothing in the Quran indicates that the mother receives one-third when inheriting alongside the father and the husband. Rather, Allah assigned her one-third when she and the father inherit the estate. Thus, the Quran indicates that, of whatever she and the father inherit together, she receives one-third and he receives two-thirds. Leading Companions—including ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī, Ibn Mas‘ūd and Zayd—and the majority of scholars relied on this to establish that the parents divide what remains after the prescribed share of either spouse in the same one-to-two ratio. This is by analogy with their division of the entire estate when they inherit it together, just as they divide what remains after debts and bequests.

The Quran’s implicit meaning rules out the mother receiving one-third unconditionally. Whoever grants her one-third unconditionally, even when there is a wife, has therefore contradicted the Quran’s implicit meaning. The majority, however, have acted upon that implication: they have not treated her inheritance when the deceased’s father inherits from him as equivalent to her inheritance when his father does not inherit. Rather, if his father inherits from him, his mother receives one-third unconditionally. If, however, his father does not inherit from him, but a relative ranking below the father does—such as the grandfather, paternal uncle or brother—then she is all the more entitled to one-third. For if she receives one-third alongside the father, she is all the more entitled to it alongside any other residuary heir.