Shares Exceeding the Estate (the Question of ٠Awl)

The Qur'an, at 4:11-12, 176, assigns fixed shares of inheritance to certain categories of heirs. At times, the sum total of these shares exceeds the estate. Consider this example: A husband and two full sisters survive a woman.

Ja'far al-Sadiq and his father agreed with Ibn 'Abbas. There are two cat­egories of heirs in the Qur'an. The first consists of parents and spouses, whose possibly conflicting shares were already considered by the Qur'an, and two different rates, one higher, the other lower, were assigned to address the potential conflict. These two types of heirs always receive their shares of the inheritance in full, according to rates specified for them in the Qur'an for different situations. The second category contains relatives who were assigned a single rate of inheritance, such as sisters and daughters. Their share can fluctuate as a result of conflicting claims.^[1215] The following reports attributed to Ja'far al-Sadiq spell out his position:

أبو كر الحضي عن أبى عبد هللا قال: كان اين عباس يقول : إن انذي أحص رمل عالج يعلم أن السهام لانغول من سئة.^[1216]

[Abu Bakr al-Hrami] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “Ibn Abbas used to say, ‘He Who counted the sand grains of the desert surely knows that the denominator of [inheritance] shares never increases beyond six.'”

,كيربن أعين عن أبى عبد هللا قال: أصل الفرئض من سئة أسهم، لاتزيد على ذكل ولا نغول علها.^[1217]

[Bukayr b. A'yan:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “The basis of inheritance is the denominator six.

أبو بصير عن أفي عبد هللا قال؛ أربعة لا بتدخل علهم ضرر في المماث؛ الوال ان والزوج والمرأة.»²

[Abu Basil:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “There are four categories of heirs who always get their shares in full: father, mother, husband, and wife.”

يميرين أعين عن أبي عبد هللا قال: الول والإخوة هم الذين يزادون ويقصون.^{[1218] [1219]}

[Bukayr b. A'yan:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “Children and siblings—these are the ones who get the increases and decreases [in their shares of inheritance].”

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