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Lesson 4 - Core Topic

Parents and Grandparents

Shares and rules for parents and ascendants in inheritance.

The mother's share

A mother takes 1/6 if the deceased leaves a descendant, or two or more siblings of any kind (even siblings who are themselves blocked from inheriting by a father figure still count toward this rule). Otherwise she takes 1/3 - except in the special Umariyyatayn case.

The father's share

A father takes 1/6 only if a male descendant (son or son's son) survives; 1/6 plus any residue if only a female descendant survives; and the residue alone, as the nearest agnate, if no descendant survives at all.

The paternal grandfather

When the father has passed away, the paternal grandfather steps into an identical role to the father in every share rule above, with one exception: the special Umariyyatayn calculation for the mother does not apply when the father figure is a grandfather.

Grandmothers

When the mother has passed away, an eligible grandmother (or two) takes the mother's 1/6 as a shared pool, established through hadith rather than a direct Qur'anic verse.

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Qur'an 4:11

يُوصِيكُمُ اللَّهُ فِي أَوْلَادِكُمْ لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الْأُنثَيَيْنِ

Allah commands you concerning your children: to the male, a share equal to that of two females.

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