been given precedence in any legal ruling. Rather, paternal relatives have precedence in all legal rulings, and the same applies to custody. The correct view is that she is not excluded from inheritance by her son—that is, the father—as stated in the stronger of the two reports from Ahmad, on account of the hadith of Ibn Mas‘ūd. Moreover, although her relationship is traced through him, she does not inherit in his capacity. Rather, her position alongside him resembles that of maternal half-siblings alongside the mother: they are not excluded by her.

The rule asserted by some, “Anyone whose relationship is traced through a person is excluded by that person,” is invalid both as stated and in its converse. As stated, it is disproved by maternal half-siblings inheriting alongside the mother. Its converse is disproved by a son’s children being excluded by their paternal uncle, and a brother’s children being excluded by their paternal uncle, and similar cases in which someone is excluded by a person through whom their relationship is not traced. The effective reason is that one inherits in the same capacity as the other. Thus, anyone who inherits in another person’s capacity is excluded by that person if the latter is more closely related to the deceased. Grandmothers take the mother’s place and are therefore excluded by her, even when their relationship is not traced through her.

As for “a son’s daughters alongside a daughter” receiving one-sixth to complete two-thirds, and likewise paternal half-sisters alongside a full sister, this is because Allah says:

“Allah instructs you concerning your children: for the male, a share equal to that of two females. But if there are only females, more than two, their share is two-thirds of what he leaves.”

It is known that this address includes sons’ children, but not daughters’ children, and that His words “your children” encompass those whose lineage is traced to the deceased—namely, his children and his daughter’s children—and that they are included in order of priority. Sons’ children are included when there are no immediate children, in accordance with the established rule that whatever remains after the prescribed shares goes to the nearest male relative, and a son