Allah said,
﴿إِن امْرُؤٌ هَلَكَ﴾
(If it is a man that dies.) Allah said in another Ayah,
﴿كُلُّ شَىْءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلاَّ وَجْهَهُ﴾
(Everything will perish save His Face.) Therefore, everything and everyone dies
and perishes except Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored. Allah said,
﴿كُلُّ مَنْ عَلَيْهَا فَانٍ - وَيَبْقَى
وَجْهُ رَبِّكَ ذُو الْجَلْـلِ وَالإِكْرَامِ ﴾
(Whatsoever is on it (the earth) will perish. And the Face of your Lord full of
majesty and honor will remain forever.) Allah said here,
﴿لَيْسَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ﴾
(leaving no child,) referring to the person who has neither children, nor parents.
What testifies to this, is that Allah said afterwards,
﴿وَلَهُ أُخْتٌ فَلَهَا نِصْفُ مَا
تَرَكَ﴾
(Leaving a sister, she shall have half the inheritance.) Had there been a surviving
ascendant, the sister would not have inherited anything, and there is a consensus
on this point. Therefore, this Ayah is referring to the man who dies leaving behind
neither descendants nor ascendants, as is apparent for those who contemplate its
meaning. This is because when there is a surviving parent, the sister does not inherit
anything, let alone half of the inheritance. Ibn Jarir and others mentioned that
Ibn `Abbas and Ibn Az-Zubayr used to judge that if a person dies and leaves behind
a daughter and a sister, the sister does not inherit anything. They would recite,
﴿إِن امْرُؤٌ هَلَكَ لَيْسَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ
وَلَهُ أُخْتٌ فَلَهَا نِصْفُ مَا تَرَكَ﴾
(If it is a man that dies, leaving a sister, but no child, she shall have half the
inheritance.) They said that if one leaves behind a daughter, then he has left behind
a child. Therefore the sister does not get anything. The majority of scholars disagreed
with them, saying the daughter gets one half and the sister the other half, relying
on other evidence. This Ayah (4:176 above) gives the sister half of the inheritance
in the case that it specifies. As for giving the sister half in other cases, Al-Bukhari
recorded that Sulayman said that Ibrahim reported to Al-Aswad that he said, "During
the time of the Messenger of Allah , Mu`adh bin Jabal gave a judgment that the daughter
gets one half and the sister the other half.'' Al-Bukhari recorded that Huzayl bin
Shurahbil said, "Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari was asked about the case when there was a daughter,
grand-daughter and sister to inherit. He said, `The daughter gets one-half and the
sister one-half.' Go and ask Ibn Mas`ud, although I think he is going to agree with
me.' So Ibn Mas`ud was asked and was told about Abu Musa's answer, and Ibn Mas`ud
commented, `I would have deviated then and would not have become among those who
are rightly guided. I will give a judgment similar to the judgment given by the
Prophet . The daughter gets one-half, the grand-daughter gets one-sixth, and these
two shares will add up to two-thirds. Whatever is left will be for the sister.'
We went back to Abu Musa and conveyed to him Ibn Mas`ud's answer and he said, `Do
not ask me (for legal verdicts) as long as this scholar is still among you.''' Allah
then said,
﴿وَهُوَ يَرِثُهَآ إِن لَّمْ يَكُنْ
لَّهَآ وَلَدٌ﴾
(... and he will be her heir if she has no children.) This Ayah means, the brother
inherits all of that his sister leaves behind if she has no surviving offspring
or parents. If she has a surviving parent, her brother would not inherit anything.
If there is someone who gets a fixed share in the inheritance, such as a husband
or half brother from the mother's side, they take their share and the rest goes
to the brother. It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that Ibn `Abbas said that the Messenger
of Allah said,
«ألْحِقُوا الْفَرَائِضَ بِأَهْلِهَا،
فَمَا أَبْقَتِ الْفَرائِضُ فَلِأَوْلَى رَجُلٍ ذَكَر»
(Give the Farai'd to its people, and whatever is left is the share of the nearest
male relative.) Allah said,
﴿فَإِن كَانَتَا اثْنَتَيْنِ فَلَهُمَا
الثُّلُثَانِ مِمَّا تَرَكَ﴾
(If there are two sisters, they shall have two-thirds of the inheritance;) meaning,
if the person who dies in Kalalah has two sisters, they get two-thirds of the inheritance.
More than two sisters share in the two-thirds. From this Ayah, the scholars took
the ruling regarding the two daughters, or more, that they share in the two-thirds,
just as the share of the sisters (two or more) was taken from the Ayah about the
daughters,
﴿فَإِن كُنَّ نِسَآءً فَوْقَ اثْنَتَيْنِ
فَلَهُنَّ ثُلُثَا مَا تَرَكَ﴾
(if (there are) only daughters, two or more, their share is two thirds of the inheritance.)
﴿4:11﴾. Allah said,
﴿وَإِن كَانُواْ إِخْوَةً رِّجَالاً
وَنِسَآءً فَلِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الاٍّنثَيَيْنِ﴾
(if there are brothers and sisters, the male will have twice the share of the female.)
This is the share that the male relatives (sons, grandsons, brothers) regularly
get, that is, twice as much as the female gets. Allah said,
﴿يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ﴾
((Thus) does Allah make clear to you...) His Law and set limits, clarifying His
legislation,
﴿أَن تَضِلُّواْ﴾
(Lest you go astray.) from the truth after this explanation,
﴿وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ﴾
(And Allah is the All-Knower of everything.) Allah has perfect knowledge in the
consequences of everything and in the benefit that each matter carries for His servants.
He also knows what each of the relatives deserves from the inheritance, according
to the degree of relation he or she has with the deceased. Ibn Jarir recorded that
Tariq bin Shihab said that `Umar gathered the Companions of the Messenger of Allah
once and said, "I will give a ruling concerning the Kalalah that even women will
talk about it in their bedrooms.'' A snake then appeared in the house and the gathering
had to disperse. `Umar commented, `Had Allah willed this (`Umar's verdict regarding
the Kalalah) to happen, it would have happened.'' The chain of narration for this
story is authentic. Al-Hakim, Abu `Abdullah An-Naysaburi recorded that `Umar bin
Al-Khattab said, `Had I asked the Messenger of Allah regarding three things, it
would have been better for me than red camels. (They are:) who should be the Khalifah
after him; about a people who said, `We agree to pay Zakah, but not to you (meaning
to the Khalifah),' if we are allowed to fight them; and about the Kalalah.'' Al-Hakim
said, "Its chain is Sahih according to the Two Shaykhs, and they did not recorded
it.'' Ibn Jarir also said that it was reported that `Umar said, "I feel shy to change
a ruling that Abu Bakr issued. Abu Bakr used to say that the Kalalah is the person
who has no descendants or ascendants.'' Abu Bakr's saying is what the majority of
scholars among the Companions, their followers and the earlier and later Imams agree
with. This is also the ruling that the Qur'an indicates. For Allah stated that He
has explained and made plain the ruling of the Kalalah, when He said,
﴿يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ أَن تَضِلُّواْ
وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ﴾
((Thus) does Allah makes clear to you (His Law) lest you go astray. And Allah is
the All-Knower of everything.) And Allah knows best.
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