SUCCESSION UNDER

MUSLIM LAW
PART II
F MAIZA AZAR
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW
 The heirs according to the Muhammadan Law are divided into three
classes.
1. Zav-il-Furuz or the Sharers
2. Asabah or residuaries or agnates
3. Zav-il- Arham or the Distant Kindred (uterine relations). 

 Assigning these classes of heirs their respective shares, if any, is done in

the following manner:
Firstly, the Sharers get the Quranic shares they are entitled to according to
the Quran or the Sunnah. These shares are shown in Table I.
Secondly, if there be any residue after assigning the Sharers their respective
shares, the Residuaries become entitled to certain shares in the manner set
out in Table II.
Thirdly, if there are no Sharers and no Residuaries, the Distant Kindred
take their shares.
Now, it is time to look closely at the various classes of
heirs.
  The Sharers
The first rule of intestate succession is that the Quranic
“Sharers” must first (before all others) be assigned their
Quranic shares. The Sharers, therefore are the most
important class of heirs who take primacy in that they
are entitled before all others.
This list of Sharers is well-defined and there is no
difference whether the intestate belong to a different sect
although each school of thought might have slight
differences in the application of the rules
The Sharers are twelve in number. Their “shares”
are liable to variation, according to circumstances.
Four of the Sharers are males and there are eight
females. 

 The four males are

1. Father
2. Grandfather or lineal male ascendant (when not
excluded)
3. Uterine brothers
4. Husband
 The females are:-
1. Widow
2. Daughter
3. Son’s daughter or the daughter of a lineal male
descendant how low-so-ever
4. Mother
5. true grandmother
6. full sister
7. consanguine sister (i.e.,) half-sister on the father’s
side
8. uterine sisters (i.e.,) half-sisters on the mother’s side
TABLE I

1. The father as a sharer gets 1/6 portion from the estate of the deceased.
The orthodox lawyers attribute to the father two characters
a. the character of a simple “Sharer” when the deceased happens to leave
a lineal male descendant;
b. the character of a simple residuary when there is no lineal male
descendant

2. The father’s father or any other lineal male ascendant (who is not
excluded by the father or a nearer ascendant) takes the same share as the
father 1/6.

3. The uterine brother (when only one, and no child, or the child of a son
how low so ever, father, or true grandfather), 1/6. When two or more, and
no child or the child of a son how low so ever, or father or true grandfather
then 1/3.
4. The husband (when the deceased leaves a child or the
child of a son, how low so ever), ¼ .When the deceased
leaves no child or a child of a son, how low so ever, the
share of the husband is ½. 

5. The widow, when the deceased has left no child or the

child of a son, how low so ever, ¼ . When co-existing
with a child or child of a son how low so ever, the widow
gets 1/8.

6. The daughter, when she has no surviving sisters and

has no son, so as to render her a residuary, gets ½.
Where there are two or more daughters and there is no
son, the daughters are entitled to a share of 2/3.
7. The daughter of a son (or daughter of a son’s son, how
low so ever), when only one, and there is no child or son’s
son or other male descendant, will get ½. When two or more
and no child or son’s son other lineal male descendant, she
will get 2/3.

8. The mother, when co-existing with a child of the deceased

intestate, or a child of his or her son, how low so ever, or two
or more brothers and sisters, whether consanguine or
uterine, is entitled to a share of 1/6. When none of the above
coexist with the mother, the mother’s share would be 1/3.

9. The true grandmother, how high so ever (when not

excluded by a nearer true female ancestor), gets 1/6. 
10. The full sister is entitled to ½ when only one and there is no
son, son’s son how low so ever, father, true grandfather,
daughter, son’s daughter or brother. However, when there are
two or more full sisters and there is no such excluder, the sisters
will collectively be entitled to a share of 2/3

11. The consanguine sister, when only one and no excluder as

above or full sister, gets ½ of the estate, but if co-existing with
one full sister only 1/6 of the estate. Where there are two or
more consanguine sisters, and no such excluder they will
collectively get a share of 2/3. When there are two or more full
sisters, the consanguine sister takes nothing

12. The uterine sister (when only one, and no child, or the child
of a son how low so ever, father, or true grandfather), 1/6. When
two or more, and no child or the child of a son how low so ever,
or father or true grandfather, 1/3.
 The Residuaries or Asabah (agnates)
The second rule of intestate succession is that if any
balance is left after assigning the shares of the Sharers,
the residue should go to the heirs of the second class,
namely the Asabah or Agnates, also known as the
Residuaries, because they take the residue of the estate
of the deceased person
TABLE II

 Residuaries are further divided into three classes

1. residuaries in their own right
2. residuaries in another’s right
3. residuaries together with another
 Residuaries in their own right
This includes all agnatic male relations that is in whose
line of relationship to the deceased no female enters.
Residuaries in their own right are divided into four sub-
classes:-
a. The “offspring” of the deceased, meaning thereby the
deceased’s sons or lineal male descendants
b. His “root” or the ascendants; in other words, his father
and true grand-father, how high so ever
c. The “offspring” of his father, viz., full brothers
and consanguine brothers and their lineal
male descendants
d. The “offspring” of the true grand-father how high so ever
 Residuaries in another’s right
Those females who become residuaries only when they
co-exist with certain males, that is, when there happen
to be males of the same degree, or who though of a lower
degree, would take as such. These are four in number,
a. Daughters (with sons);
b. Son’s daughters (with a son’s son or a male
descendant still further removed in the direct line). 
c. The full sister (with her own or full brother).
d. The sister by the same father, or, in other words, a
consanguine sister (with her brother)
 Residuaries together with another.
a. Full sisters, with daughters or son’s daughters
b. Consanguine sisters, with daughters or son’s
daughters.

 The Distant Kindred 

This means “uterine relations” constitute the third major
class of heirs, who simply are distant kindred.
The principal rule relating to the Distant Kindred is that,
subject to one exception, they come into contention as
heirs only where there are no sharers and no residuaries.
 It will be seen that Residuaries are divided into
three sub-classes, the first sub-class consists of all
males and the second and third all of females. It is
more convenient to explain the second and third sub-
classes first.
 The second sub-class is headed “Residuaries in
another’s right” and is made up of four groups of
female relations who take only when they co-exist
with the male relations of the first sub-class specified
with each group. For instance daughters take only
when they co-exist with sons. 
 Let us take a simple example
A dies leaving a son and a daughter. If we keep in mind the three
rules outlined above , the problem is very easily solved. According to
the first rule we look at the table of sharers. It will be noticed that
the son is not mentioned at all, but the daughter is mentioned. But
she is not a sharer according to item 6 for she is excluded by the co-
existence of the son. We must therefore look for the solution of the
problem at the second class. A son comes in the first sub-class of
the table of residuaries and a daughter in the second sub-class, as
she co-exists with a son. The son and daughter therefore inherit
as residuaries. According to the third rule the uterine relations get
nothing because the existence of a sharer or residuary prevents a
uterine relation sharing in the estate.
 Now comes the question as to how the estate
should be divided between the son and daughter. The
general rule is the rule given in the Holy Quran that
each male is to get double the share of each female of
equal rank. The son will therefore get 2/3 and the
daughter 1/3