Muʿādda: counting paternal siblings against the grandfather

The rule

When the grandfather inherits with both full and paternal siblings, the full siblings count the paternal ones with themselves against him. This lowers what the grandfather gets from muqāsama, since there are more heads to divide by.

Once the grandfather's portion is set, the full siblings take back what was counted for the paternal siblings, who are excluded by them in any case. The paternal siblings are counted but, as a rule, receive nothing.

The exception, and the classic cases

If the full siblings are a single sister, she takes back only enough to complete her fixed half, and anything left over goes to the paternal siblings. This is the source of two well-known cases, al-ʿAshariyya and al-ʿIshrīniyya, named after the bases on which they settle.

This is Zayd's ruling, followed by the Mālikī, Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī schools. ʿAlī and Ibn Masʿūd did not count the paternal siblings against the grandfather at all. In the Ḥanafī school the grandfather excludes every sibling, so the question never comes up.

In the calculator

The working panel records which option the grandfather took and how the siblings were counted. Compare the four schools to see the Ḥanafī result, where the grandfather takes everything left.

Worked examples

Every share below is computed by the calculator's engine when this page loads. Open any example to change the family and see what moves.