al-ʿUmariyyatān: the mother's third of the remainder

The two cases

When the only heirs are a spouse, a mother and a father, a literal reading gives the mother a third of the whole estate. Beside a husband that would leave the father with less than the mother; beside a wife, with less than twice her share.

ʿUmar ruled, with Zayd ibn Thābit and most of the Companions agreeing, that the mother takes a third of what remains after the spouse's share, and the father takes the rest. He then receives twice her portion, the usual relation between a man and a woman of the same degree. The pair are also called al-Gharrāwān, "the two famous ones".

Who held otherwise, and where it applies

Ibn ʿAbbās kept to the literal reading and gave the mother a full third of the estate. All four Sunni schools follow ʿUmar's ruling, so the calculator gives the same result in every school, and the mother's share carries its own note in the result.

The ruling is tied to this exact family with the father himself present. If a child or grandchild, or two or more siblings, survive, the mother's share is a sixth in any case and the question never arises.

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.