Sister's son
ابن الأخت الشقيقة
The son of the deceased's full sister. A distant kinsman (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 son.
| 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 Daughter's daughter and Maternal grandfather | excluded | 1/3 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 1/3 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 1/3 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) |
| With Maternal grandfather | excluded | 3/5 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 3/5 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 3/5 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) |
| With Sister's daughter and Maternal aunt | 2/3 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 2/5 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 2/5 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 3/10 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) |
| With Daughter's son | excluded | 1/2 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 1/2 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | 1/2 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) |
| With Paternal aunt | 1 kin share (dhawū al-arḥām) | needs a scholar's review | excluded | excluded |
- With Wife — Mālikī: needs a scholar's review
- With Paternal aunt — Mālikī: needs a scholar's review
Who excludes them
Present even once, each of these excludes the sister's son 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 son different shares:
- With Daughter's daughter and Maternal grandfather: Ḥanafī excluded · Mālikī 1/3 · Shāfiʿī 1/3 · Ḥanbalī 1/3 Read more
- With Maternal grandfather: Ḥanafī excluded · Mālikī 3/5 · Shāfiʿī 3/5 · Ḥanbalī 3/5 Read more
- With Sister's daughter and Maternal aunt: Ḥanafī 2/3 · Mālikī 2/5 · Shāfiʿī 2/5 · Ḥanbalī 3/10 Read more
- With Daughter's son: Ḥanafī excluded · Mālikī 1/2 · Shāfiʿī 1/2 · Ḥanbalī 1/2 Read more
- With Paternal aunt: Ḥanafī 1 · Shāfiʿī excluded · Ḥanbalī excluded (Mālikī: needs a scholar's review) Read more
The verse
No inheritance verse of Sūrat an-Nisāʾ (4:11, 4:12, 4:176) names a share for the sister's son; their place follows the rules the scholars derived from the Sunnah and those verses.
Worked examples
| Heir | Ḥanafī | Mālikī | Shāfiʿī | Ḥanbalī |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daughter's daughter | 1 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 |
| Sister's son | excluded | 1/3 | 1/3 | 1/3 |
| Maternal grandfather | excluded | 1/6 | 1/6 | 1/6 |
Questions
- How much does the sister's son 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 daughter's daughter and maternal grandfather: differs by school; with maternal grandfather: differs by school.
- Does the sister's son inherit when there is a son?
- No. In all four schools a son excludes the sister's son entirely (ḥajb).
- Whom does the sister's son exclude?
- No one: on their own, the sister's son excludes no other heir.
- Do the four schools agree on the share of the sister's son?
- Not always. They differ in 5 of the situations computed here — for example, with daughter's daughter and maternal grandfather: Ḥanafī excluded, Mālikī 1/3, Shāfiʿī 1/3, Ḥanbalī 1/3.