Sister's daughter
بنت الأخت الشقيقة
The daughter of the deceased's full sister. A distant kinswoman (dhawū al-arḥām) who inherits only when no heir but a spouse is left.
Their share
Each row is a family run through the engine in all four schools; the share is the group share of the sister's daughter.
| Family | Ḥanafī | Mālikī | Shāfiʿī | Ḥanbalī |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alone | 1 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | |||
| With Wife | 3/4 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | needs a scholar's review | 3/4 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 3/4 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) |
| With Son | excluded | |||
| With Sister's son and Maternal aunt | 1/3 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 1/5 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 1/5 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 3/10 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) |
| With Sister's son | 1/3 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 1/3 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 1/3 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 1/2 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) |
- With Wife — Mālikī: needs a scholar's review
Who excludes them
Present even once, each of these excludes the sister's daughter in all four schools:
- Son
- Daughter
- Son's son
- Son's daughter
- Great-grandson
- Great-granddaughter
- Father
- Mother
- Father's father
- Father's mother
- Mother's mother
- Full brother
- Full sister
- Paternal brother
- Paternal sister
- Maternal brother
- Maternal sister
- Full nephew
- Paternal nephew
- Full paternal uncle
- Paternal half-uncle
- Full cousin
- Paternal cousin
Depends on the school:
Whom they exclude
Depends on the school:
Where the schools differ
In these families the four schools give the sister's daughter different shares:
The verse
No inheritance verse of Sūrat an-Nisāʾ (4:11, 4:12, 4:176) names a share for the sister's daughter; their place follows the rules the scholars derived from the Sunnah and those verses.
Worked examples
| Heir | Ḥanafī | Mālikī | Shāfiʿī | Ḥanbalī |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sister's son | 2/3 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 3/10 |
| Sister's daughter | 1/3 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 3/10 |
| Maternal aunt | excluded | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
Questions
- How much does the sister's daughter inherit?
- It depends on who else inherits. Computed in all four schools: alone: 1; with wife: 3/4 (Mālikī: needs a scholar's review); with son: excluded; with sister's son and maternal aunt: differs by school; with sister's son: differs by school.
- Does the sister's daughter inherit when there is a son?
- No. In all four schools a son excludes the sister's daughter entirely (ḥajb).
- Whom does the sister's daughter exclude?
- No one: on their own, the sister's daughter excludes no other heir.
- Do the four schools agree on the share of the sister's daughter?
- Not always. They differ in 2 of the situations computed here — for example, with sister's son and maternal aunt: Ḥanafī 1/3, Mālikī 1/5, Shāfiʿī 1/5, Ḥanbalī 3/10.