In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger ﷺ.
This is a summary of what was presented in the audio segment of the debate of Imam al-Shafi’i, may Allah have mercy on him, on questions of inheritance, focusing on the question of returning the remainder (radd) to the relatives (dhawu al-arham) and on the inheritance of the grandfather together with the brothers, and clarifying the important aspects:
Questions of inheritance:
The subject of this segment is a debate of Imam al-Shafi’i on two questions of inheritance:
- Returning the remainder to the relatives: This is the question of what remains of the estate after the holders of fixed shares (ashab al-furud) have taken their shares: is it returned to the relatives, or placed in the public treasury (bayt al-mal)?
- The inheritance of the grandfather together with the brothers: This is the question of the grandfather’s inheritance when there are brothers: does the grandfather exclude the brothers, or do they share the inheritance with him?
The main points Imam al-Shafi’i addressed in this debate:
First: returning the remainder to the relatives:
- The disagreement over radd: Imam al-Shafi’i shows that there is disagreement among the scholars over the question of radd: some of them (such as Zayd ibn Thabit) hold that what remains of the estate after the holders of fixed shares have taken their shares is placed in the public treasury, and some of them (such as Abu Hanifah) hold that it is returned to the relatives.
- Imam al-Shafi’i’s argument against radd: Imam al-Shafi’i argues against radd from the saying of the Exalted: “And if a man or woman leaves neither ascendants nor descendants but has a brother or a sister, then for each one of them is a sixth. But if they are more than two, they share a third” (al-Nisa’ 4:12), and the saying of the Exalted: “They request from you a [legal] ruling. Say, ‘Allah gives you a ruling concerning one having neither descendants nor ascendants [as heirs].’ If a man dies, leaving no child but [only] a sister, she will have half of what he left. And he inherits from her if she [dies and] has no child” (al-Nisa’ 4:176), showing that these verses defined the sister’s share when alone and when together with others, which is half, so she may not take more than that by radd.
- Responding to the inference from the verse “But those of [blood] relationship are more entitled [to inheritance] by one another”: Imam al-Shafi’i responds to those who inferred radd from the saying of the Exalted, “But those of [blood] relationship are more entitled [to inheritance] by one another in the Book of Allah” (al-Anfal 8:75), showing that this verse was revealed to abrogate inheritance by alliance and by emigration, and to explain that inheritance is by kinship, while observing what Allah has prescribed in His Book.
- The conclusion on the question of radd: Imam al-Shafi’i holds that what remains of the estate after the holders of fixed shares have taken their shares is placed in the public treasury and is not returned to the relatives, unless there are neither agnatic heirs (‘asabah) nor holders of fixed shares, in which case the relatives inherit.
Second: the inheritance of the grandfather together with the brothers:
- The disagreement over the inheritance of the grandfather together with the brothers: Imam al-Shafi’i shows that there is disagreement among the Companions over the inheritance of the grandfather together with the brothers: some of them (such as Zayd ibn Thabit, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, ‘Ali, and Ibn Mas’ud) hold that the grandfather shares the inheritance with the brothers, and some of them (such as Abu Bakr and Ibn ‘Abbas) hold that the grandfather excludes the brothers.
- Imam al-Shafi’i’s argument that the grandfather does not exclude the brothers: Imam al-Shafi’i responds to those who said that the grandfather excludes the brothers, showing that the grandfather’s being called a “father” in the Qur’an does not require that he take all the rulings of the father in inheritance, as shown by the fact that he does not exclude the maternal brothers, and does not reduce the grandmother’s share from the sixth.
- Responding to the analogy that the grandfather is more entitled to inherit than the brothers: Imam al-Shafi’i responds to those who argued by analogy that the grandfather is more entitled to inherit than the brothers, showing that this analogy is not valid, because it contradicts the consensus that the grandfather together with the brothers either shares the inheritance with them or takes more than they do, and does not exclude them altogether.
- The conclusion on the inheritance of the grandfather together with the brothers: Imam al-Shafi’i holds that the grandfather shares the inheritance with the brothers and does not exclude them, and this is the view of most of the people of jurisprudence, past and present.
Additional clarifications:
- Radd: returning what remains of the estate, after the holders of fixed shares have taken their shares, to the relatives.
- Dhawu al-arham: relatives who are neither holders of fixed shares nor agnatic heirs.
- Kalalah: one who dies leaving neither child nor parent.
- ‘Asabah: the male relatives on the father’s side.
Final conclusion:
In this debate Imam al-Shafi’i shows the disagreement over the question of returning the remainder to the relatives and over the inheritance of the grandfather together with the brothers, and supports his own view on both by legal proofs and sound analogy. He clarifies how to infer in questions of inheritance and how to weigh between conflicting views. This segment displays Imam al-Shafi’i’s skill in debate, inference, and weighing between proofs and opinions.
All parts of Summary of the Explanation of al-Shafi'i's al-Risala by Dr. Yasir Burhami