—in equity.

If he bequeaths one-third of his estate to one person and one-half to another, the estate is divided between them into five shares: the holder of the third receives two shares, and the holder of the half receives three.

If he bequeaths one-third to one person and one-quarter to another, the permissible one-third is apportioned between them into seven shares: the holder of the third takes four-sevenths, and the holder of the quarter three-sevenths.

If he bequeaths one-quarter to one person and one-sixth to another, the one-third is divided between them into five shares: the holder of the quarter receives three shares, and the holder of the sixth two.

When a man makes several bequests to a group of people and one of them dies before the testator—whether the testator knows of that death or not—there are three opinions reported from Malik:

1. The first is that the surviving legatees share in the deceased’s portion in proportion to their own bequests, regardless of the testator’s knowledge; whatever thereby accrues reverts to the testator’s heirs, and nothing goes to the heirs of the deceased legatee.

2. The second is that the bequest to the deceased is simply void, and the other legatees do not enlarge their shares by it, whether or not the testator was aware of the death.

3. The third is that, if the testator knew of the death, the other legatees do not participate in that portion; but if he did not know, they do share in it proportionally. In every case, whatever would have fallen to the deceased legatee reverts to the testator’s heirs.

If he bequeaths to so-and-so ten dinars out of his one-third and also bequeaths the entire one-third to another, the claim of the recipient of the ten dinars is satisfied first.

But if he says, “So-and-so is to receive one-third of my estate, and so-and-so ten dinars,” without adding “from the third,” the two legatees share in the one-third.

Should a man bequeath “one sahm (share) of my estate” to a man or a woman, one looks to the shares into which the estate would be divided among his heirs, and the legatee is given one of those shares. Thus, if the estate would be divided into eight shares, the legatee receives one-eighth. Ibn Shabban relates that some of our scholars hold that he should receive one-ninth.

If the canonical shares and the number of heirs cannot be determined, Ibn al-Qasim says the legatee is entitled to one-sixth, whereas Ashhab says he is entitled to one-eighth, which is the smallest specified share.