2792. The following three classes will inherit from a deceased owing to cognateness:
1. The mother, father and the children of the deceased. If no children are present, his grandchildren regardless of their generation will inherit from him, and among them the generation that is closest to the deceased. As long as one person from this class is present, the second class will not inherit from the deceased.
2. The grandfather, grandmother, sister and brother. In the absence of a brother or sister, their children will inherit from the deceased, and amongst them the ones who are closest to the deceased. As long as one person from this class is present, the third class will not inherit from the deceased.
3. The paternal uncle and aunts, and the maternal uncle and aunts. As long as one of the paternal uncle and aunts, or the maternal uncles and aunts are alive, none of their children will inherit from the deceased. However, if the only heirs of the deceased are the paternal step uncle and the son of a paternal uncle, then the inheritance will go to the son of the paternal uncle and not the paternal step uncle. In a case other than this, especially when two maternal uncles or aunts are also present with them, the obligatory precaution is that they should reach a settlement compromise.
2793. In the absence of the paternal uncles and aunts of the deceased, and his maternal uncles and aunts, and in the absence of their children, including any successive generations, the paternal uncles and aunts of his parents, and their maternal uncles and aunts will inherit from him. If they are not present either, their children will inherit from him. If they are not present either, the paternal uncles and aunts of the grandmother and grandfather, and their maternal uncles and aunts will inherit from him. If they too are not present, their children will inherit from him.
2794. A husband and wife inherit from each other, in a manner that will be elaborated in later articles.
2795. If the heir of the deceased is one person in the first class, such as a father, mother, son or daughter, all of the deceased’s estate will go to him. However, if there are a few sons or a few daughters, the estate will be divided equally between them. However, if there are sons and daughters, then the estate will be divided in a manner that each son will receive twice the amount given to each daughter.
2796. If the only heirs of the deceased are his mother and father, the estate will be divided into three parts: two parts for the father, and one part for the mother.
However, if the deceased has two brothers, or four sisters, or one brother and two sisters, all of whom are free Muslims, and they are all paternal (meaning that they share the same father with the deceased, regardless of whether they share the same mother or not), and they are not in the wombs of their mothers, then even though they will not inherit anything from the deceased given the presence of the mother and father, however with their presence, the mother will inherit one-sixth of the estate and the rest will go to the father.
2797. If the only heirs of the deceased are his mother, father and one daughter, then given that the deceased does not have two brothers, or four sisters, or one brother and two paternal sisters (in the manner described in the previous article), the estate will be divided into five parts, from which the mother and father will inherit two parts and the daughter will inherit three parts.
However, if he does have two brothers, or four sisters, or one brother and two paternal sisters (in the manner described in the previous article), then the estate will be divided into six parts, of which the mother and father will inherit two parts, and the daughter will inherit three parts. The remaining one part will be divided into four parts, one of which will be inherited by the father, and the other three by the daughter. In effect, the estate will be divided into twenty four parts, of which fifteen parts will go to the daughter, five parts to the father and four parts to the mother. The strongly emphasized precaution in this case is that with consent from the daughter and father, the estate should be divided into five parts.
2798. If the only heirs of a deceased are his father, mother and one son, they will divide the estate into six parts, of which the mother and father will each take one part, and the son will take four parts. However, if he has a few sons, or a few daughters, they will divide the four parts equally between themselves. If however he has both daughters and sons, then the four parts will be divided in a manner that each son will take twice the amount of each daughter.
2799. If the only heirs of the deceased are his mother or father, and one or more sons, then the estate will be divided into six parts, of which the mother or father will take one part, and the son will take five parts. If he has a few sons, the five parts will be divided equally amongst them.
2800. If the only heirs of the deceased are his mother or father, a son and a daughter, then the estate will be divided into six parts, of which the mother or father will take one part. The remaining five parts will be divided amongst the son and daughter in a manner that the son will inherit twice the amount of the daughter.
2801. If the only heirs of the deceased are his mother or father, and one daughter, the estate will be divided into four parts, of which the mother or father will inherit one part, and the remaining will be inherited by the daughter.
2802. If the only heirs of the deceased are his mother or father, and a few daughters, the estate will be divided into five parts, of which the mother or father will inherit one part. The remaining four parts will be equally divided amongst the daughters.
2803. If the deceased does not have children (who are alive), his grandchild from his son will inherit the share of the deceased son, even if she is a daughter. Similarly, his grandchild through his daughter will inherit the share of the deceased daughter, even if he is a son. For example, if the deceased had a grandson through his daughter, and a granddaughter through his son, the estate will be divided into three parts, of which one part will be given to the son of his daughter, and the other two parts to the daughter of his son.
2804. The second class of people who inherit due to cognateness are the grandfather, the grandmother, and the brother and sister of the deceased. If the deceased’s brothers or sisters are not alive, their children and grandchildren from any generation will inherit from him.س
2805. If the only heir of the deceased is one brother or one sister, he or she will inherit the entire estate. If he has more than one full brother, or more than one full sister, the estate will be divided equally amongst them. However, if he has both full brothers and full sisters, then each brother will inherit twice the inheritance of each sister. For example, if he has two full brothers and one full sister then the estate will be divided into five parts, of which each brother will inherit two parts, and the sister will inherit one part.
2806. If the deceased has full brothers and sisters, then his step brothers and sisters who do not share the same mother will not inherit from him. However, if he has no full brothers or sisters, then if he has only one step brother or sisters who share the same father, he or she will inherit the entire estate. If he has a few step brothers or a few step sisters who all share the same father, then the estate will be equally divided amongst them. If however he has some step brothers and some step sisters who all share the same father, then each brother will inherit twice the inheritance of each sister.
2807. If the heir of the deceased is one step brother or step sister who shares the same mother with him, then he or she will inherit the entire estate. If however he has a few step brothers, or a few step sisters, or a few step brothers and sisters, all of whom share the same mother with him, then the estate will be equally divided amongst them.
2808. If the deceased has full brothers and sisters, step brothers and sisters who share the same father with him, and a step brother or sister who share the same mother with him, then the step brothers and sisters who share the same father with him will not inherit from him. The estate will then be divided into six parts, of which the step brother or sister who share the same mother with him will inherit one part. The rest will go to the full brothers and sisters, where each brother will inherit twice the inheritance of each sister.
2809. If the deceased has full brothers and sisters, and step brothers and sisters who share the same father with him, and a few step brothers and sisters who share the same mother with him, then the step brothers and sisters who share the same father will not inherit from him. The estate will then be divided into three parts, of which the step brothers and sisters who share the same mother with him will inherit one part, which will be equally divided amongst them. The remaining will go to the full brothers and sisters, where each brother will inherit twice the inheritance of each sister.
2810. If the only heirs of a deceased are step brothers and sisters who share the same father with him, and one step brother or step sister who shares the same mother with him, then the estate will be divided into six parts, of which the step brother or sister who shares the same mother will inherit one part. The remaining will go to the step brothers and sisters who share the same father with him, wherein each brother will inherit twice the inheritance of each sister.
2811. If the only heirs of a deceased are his step brothers and sisters who share the same father, and a few step brothers and sisters who share the same mother, then his estate should be divided into three parts, of which the step brothers and sisters who share the same mother with him will inherit one part, which they will equally share amongst themselves. The remaining will go to the step brothers and sisters who share the same father, wherein each brother will inherit twice the inheritance of the sisters.
2812. If the only heirs of a deceased are his brothers, sisters and wife, then his wife will inherit according to the structure that will be elaborated in later articles. The brothers and sisters will inherit their share as elaborated in the previous article.
Similarly, if a woman passes away, and her only heirs are her brothers, sisters and husband, then the husband will inherit half of her estate, and her brothers and sisters will inherit their share as elaborated in the previous article.
However, although the husband or wife inherit from the deceased, nothing will be decreased from the share of the step brothers and sisters who share the same mother with the deceased; rather, there will be a reduction in the inheritance of the full brothers and sisters, or the step brothers and sisters who share the same father with the deceased.
For example, if the heirs of the deceased are her husband, her step brothers and sisters who share the same mother with her, and her full brothers and sisters, then half of the estate will go to the husband. Thereafter, one-third of the original estate will be inherited by the step brothers and sisters who share the same mother with her. That which remains will belong to the full brothers and sisters. So if for example, his entire estate is $6000, then $3000 will go to her husband, and $2000 to the step brothers and sisters who share the same mother with her, and $1000 to her full brothers and sisters.
2813. If a deceased has no brothers or sisters, then their share of the inheritance goes to their children. The share of the children of the step brothers or sisters who share the same mother with him, will be divided equally amongst them. However, the share of the children of the full brothers and sisters, or children of the step brothers and sisters who share the same mother with him, will be divided in a manner that each son receives twice the inheritance of each daughter, although the more precautionary course of action is to reach a compromise settlement.
2814. If the only heir of a deceased is one grandfather, or one grandmother, be they paternal or maternal, then he or she will inherit the entire estate. Given the presence of the deceased’s grandfather, his great grandfather will not inherit from him.
If the only heirs of the deceased are his paternal grandfather and grandmother, the estate will be divided into three parts, of which the grandfather will inherit two parts, and the grandmother one part. However, if the heirs are his maternal grandfather and grandmother, then they will divide the estate equally amongst themselves.
2815. If the only heirs of the deceased is one paternal grandfather or grandmother, and one maternal grandfather or grandmother, then the estate will be divided into three parts, of which the paternal grandparent will inherit two parts and the maternal grandparent will inherit one part.
2816. If the heirs of a deceased are his paternal and maternal grandparents, then the estate will be divided into three parts, of which the maternal grandparents will inherit one part, which they will equally share amongst themselves. The other two parts will be given to the paternal grandparents, of which the grandfather will inherit twice the inheritance of the grandmother.
2817. If the only heirs of a deceased are his wife and his paternal and maternal grandparents, then his wife will inherit according to the precepts that will be elaborated in later articles. One third of the original estate will go to the maternal grandparents, who will divide it equally amongst themselves. The remaining will go to the paternal grandparents, of which the grandfather will inherit twice the inheritance of the grandmother.
If the heirs of a deceased are her husband and grandparents, then her husband will inherit half of her estate. As for her grandparents, they will inherit according to the precepts that were elaborated in the previous article.
2818. In the event that the brothers and sisters are joint heirs with the grandparent or grandparents, it can take the following few forms:
1. The grandfather or grandmother, brothers or sisters are all from the mother’s side. In this case, the estate will be divided equally between them, even if they differ from each other in gender.
2. All of them are from the father’s side. In this case, the estate will be distributed equally between them assuming that all of them are male, or all of them are female. If they differ in gender, then every male will inherit twice the inheritance of a female.
3. The grandfather or grandmother is from the father’s side and the brothers and sisters are from the mother’s side. The ruling for this case is the same as the previous case. It was also clarified in article 2809 that if the brothers and sisters who only share the same father with the deceased combine with his brothers and sisters who share the same father and mother, then only those who only share the same father will not inherit from him.
4. Some of the grandfathers or grandmothers are paternal and some are maternal, regardless of whether all are male, all are female or they differ in gender, and the brothers and sisters are also similar.
In this case, the maternal relatives, which includes the brothers, sisters, grandfathers and grandmothers will receive one-third of the estate, and it will be distributed equally amongst them, even if they differ in gender. The paternal relatives will receive two-thirds of the estate, wherein every male will receive twice the inheritance of a female. However, if they do not differ in gender, in that all are male or all are female, then it will be distributed equally amongst them.
5. The paternal grandmother or grandfather is present along with a maternal brother or sister. In this case, the brother or sister, given that there is only one of them, will inherit one-sixth of the estate. However, if they are more than one, they will inherit one-third of the estate equally amongst themselves. The grandfather or grandmother will inherit the remaining estate. In the event that both the grandmother and grandfather are present, the grandfather will inherit twice the amount inherited by the grandmother.
6. The maternal grandmother or grandfather is present along with a paternal brother. In this case, the grandmother or grandfather will inherit one-third even if there is only one of them, and the other two-thirds are for the brother, even if there he is the only one.
However, if the maternal grandmother or grandfather is present along with a paternal sister, the sister will inherit half the estate if she is alone. If, however there are many sisters, they will inherit two-thirds of the estate. In both cases, the grandfather or grandmother will only inherit one-third of the estate.
Hence, if there is only one sister, one-sixth of the estate is left over after the obligatory distribution. The stronger view is that it returns to the sister, although the more precautious view is to reach a compromise.
7. Some of the grandmothers and grandfathers are paternal and some are maternal, and paternal brothers or sisters are present with them, be it a single sibling or multiple siblings. In this case, the maternal grandfather or grandmother will inherit one-third of the estate, and if they are more than one, they will divide it equally amongst themselves even if they are of different genders. The paternal grandfather or grandmother, and the paternal brothers or sisters will inherit the remaining two-thirds of the estate. If they are of differing genders, the male members will inherit twice the inheritance of the female members, and if they are of the same gender, they will inherit an equal portion.
If maternal brothers or sisters are present with the grandfathers or grandmothers, then the maternal grandparents and the maternal brothers and sisters will inherit one-third of the estate, which will be divided equally amongst them, even if they are of differing genders. The paternal grandfather or grandmother will inherit two-thirds of the estate. In the case where they are of differing genders, the male-members will inherit twice the inheritance of the female members, and if they are of the same gender, the inheritance will be divided equally amongst them.
8. Some of the brothers and sisters are paternal and some of them are maternal, and a paternal grandfather or grandmother is present with them. In this case, the maternal brother or sister will inherit one-sixth of the estate if he/she is alone, or one-third of it if they are more than one. In the latter case, it will be divided equally amongst them.
The paternal brothers and sisters, and the paternal grandparent(s) will inherit the remaining estate. The estate will be divided equally amongst themselves if they do not differ from each other in gender, and if they do, then the male relatives will inherit twice the amount of the female relatives.
If the maternal grandparents are present with the brothers and sisters, then the maternal grandparents and the maternal brothers and sisters will inherit one-third of the estate, which will be distributed equally amongst them. The paternal brothers and sisters will inherit the remaining two-thirds. If they are all of the same gender, it will be distributed equally amongst them, and if they are of differing genders, the brothers will inherit twice the inheritance of the sisters.
2819. In the event that the deceased is survived by a brother or sister, the children of his brother or sister will not inherit from him. However, this precept does not apply in the case where the inheritance of his brother’s or sister’s children does not conflict with the inheritance of his brother or sister. For example, if a deceased leaves behind a paternal brother and a maternal grandfather, then the paternal brother will inherit two-thirds and the maternal grandfather will inherit one-third. In this case, if the deceased is also survived by the son of his maternal brother, then the brother’s child will share the one-third with the maternal grandfather.
2820. The third class consists of the paternal uncle and aunt, and the maternal uncle and aunt, and their children, in the manner that was presented earlier, in the sense that they will only inherit if the deceased is not survived by anyone from the first or second class.
2821. If the deceased is survived by only one paternal uncle or aunt, regardless of whether he/she shares the same mother and father with the father of the deceased, or only shares the same father, or only the same mother, he/she will inherit all of the estate. However, if he is survived by several paternal uncles or several paternal aunts, and all of them share the same mother and father, or share the same father, then the estate will be divided equally amongst them. If, however, both the paternal uncles and aunts are present, and all of them share the same mother and father, or they all share the same father, then the uncles will inherit twice the inheritance of the aunts. For example, if the deceased is survived by two paternal uncles and one paternal aunt, then the estate will be divided into five parts. One part will be given to the aunt, and the uncles will divide the remaining four parts equally amongst themselves.
