The Famous Special Cases of Islamic Inheritance

For the overwhelming majority of estates, the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence — Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali — produce identical inheritance results. The Quranic shares are explicit, and the science of Faraid is one of the most precisely defined areas of Islamic law. But there is a small set of famous, irregular configurations where the schools either apply a special procedure or part ways entirely.

This guide works through each of those named cases with the full arithmetic, so you can see exactly how the result is reached and where the madhabs differ. Every example here is reproduced by the free FaraidHub inheritance calculator, which shows the same step-by-step trace for your own family.

The Two Umar Cases (al-Umariyyatayn / al-Gharrawiyyatayn)

The Umariyyatayn — “the two cases of Umar”, also called al-Gharrawiyyatayn (“the two brilliant cases”) — are the two situations in which a spouse inherits alongside both parents with no children and no screening siblings. Normally the mother takes 1/3 of the whole estate when there are no children. In these two cases she instead takes 1/3 of what remains after the spouse's share. All four madhabs agree on this.

The reason is fairness between the parents: if the mother took a full 1/3 of the entire estate she would end up with more than the father — yet the father is the stronger residuary heir and should not receive less than the mother here.

Example 1 — Husband, Mother, Father (estate R360,000)

Had the mother taken 1/3 of the whole (R120,000), the father would have been left with only R60,000 — half of the mother's share. The 1/3-of-remainder rule corrects this so the father receives twice the mother.

Example 2 — Wife, Mother, Father (estate R360,000)

An important exception: grandfather instead of father

This rule applies only when the father is present. If the grandfather inherits in the father's place, the mother reverts to her ordinary 1/3 of the whole estate, because the grandfather — unlike the father — does not have the power to reduce the mother to a third of the remainder. This one distinction is what makes the next case, the Akdariyyah, behave so unusually.

The Donkey Case (al-Mushtaraka / al-Himariyyah)

The Mushtaraka (“the shared case”) — nicknamed al-Himariyyah, the donkey case, and also al-Hajariyyah, the stone case — is the most famous disagreement in all of Faraid. It arises when a woman dies leaving a husband, a mother, two or more uterine (maternal) siblings, and one or more full siblings.

Under the basic rules the husband takes 1/2, the mother 1/6, and the uterine siblings 1/3 — which uses up the entire estate, leaving the full brothers (residuaries) with nothing. A full brother is said to have protested to Caliph Umar (رضي الله عنه) that even if their shared father “were a donkey,” he still had the same mother as the uterine brothers and so deserved a share. Umar accepted the argument — and the schools have debated it ever since:

• Hanafi & Hanbali: the full siblings are residuaries; with no residue left, they receive nothing.
• Maliki & Shafi'i: the full siblings join the uterine siblings in their 1/3, divided equally per head — the male-takes-double rule is set aside, because they share through the same mother.

Worked example — Husband, Mother, 2 Uterine Brothers, 1 Full Brother (estate R270,000)

In the Maliki and Shafi'i result the 1/3 (R90,000) is split equally between the three siblings who share the mother — two uterine brothers and one full brother — giving R30,000 each. Notice the rule overrides the usual 2:1 ratio: the full brother receives the same as each uterine brother, not double.

The Akdariyyah Case

The Akdariyyah is the case of a spouse, a mother, the paternal grandfather, and one lone sister (full or paternal), with no children, no father and no brothers. It is the trickiest named case in Faraid because it combines two rules that pull against each other.

A single sister is entitled to a fixed 1/2 share. But when the grandfather is present he normally shares the residue with siblings by muqasama rather than letting them take a fixed share. If you simply paid the husband (1/2), the mother (1/3) and gave the grandfather his minimum 1/6, the estate would be exhausted and the sister would get nothing — yet the scholars held that a sister cannot be wholly excluded by a husband, mother and grandfather.

The Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali resolution is a three-step procedure:

1. Raise the sister to her fixed 1/2 share. The shares become husband 1/2, mother 1/3, grandfather 1/6, sister 1/2 — a total of 9/6.
2. Apply Awl. The base rises from 6 to 9: husband 3/9, mother 2/9, grandfather 1/9, sister 3/9.
3. Recombine the grandfather and sister. Their shares (1/9 + 3/9 = 4/9) are added and split 2:1, the grandfather taking a brother's double share. Multiplying through by 3 gives a base of 27.

Worked example — Husband, Mother, Grandfather, 1 Full Sister (estate R270,000)

In the Hanafi school there is no Akdariyyah at all: the grandfather steps fully into the father's shoes and blocks the sister, so she inherits nothing and the mother keeps her usual 1/3. A single consanguine (paternal) sister is treated exactly like a full sister in this case.

Grandfather With Siblings (Muqasama)

Underlying both the donkey case and the Akdariyyah is a deeper disagreement about the grandfather. The Hanafi school treats the paternal grandfather like the father, blocking all brothers and sisters. The Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools follow the doctrine of Zayd ibn Thabit (رضي الله عنه): the grandfather shares with full and paternal siblings, taking the better of three options — a brother's share by muqasama, 1/3 of the residue, or 1/6 of the whole estate. The FaraidHub calculator applies whichever is most favourable to the grandfather automatically.

Maternal vs Paternal Grandmother

Grandmothers share a collective 1/6, but the two lines are blocked differently. The maternal grandmother (the mother's mother) is blocked only by the mother. The paternal grandmother (the father's mother) is blocked by the mother and by the father. When both inherit together, they divide the 1/6 equally — 1/12 each. The Hanafi and Hanbali schools treat all grandmothers as one group; the Maliki and Shafi'i schools distinguish the two lines.

Which Madhab Does What — Quick Reference

Further reading: Awl explained · Radd explained · Kalalah · Dhawul Arham · Hajb (blocking) rules · Differences between the 4 madhabs

Frequently Asked Questions