sharers

The sharers (ashab-ul-furuz, or Quranic heirs) are twelve: four males (husband, father, true grandfather, uterine brother) and eight females (wife, daughter, son's daughter how low soever, mother, true grandmother, full sister, consanguine sister, uterine sister). They take first, after funeral expenses, debts and legacies (up to one-third) are paid.

Their shares vary with the presence of other heirs; for example, the husband takes one-half without a child and one-fourth with one. What remains goes to residuaries (asabat). If the shares exceed the whole, they are reduced proportionately (aul); if something remains and there is no residuary, it returns to the sharers other than the spouse (radd).

Example

The widow and daughter took their shares as sharers first, and the residue went to the deceased's brother as a residuary.

See also

residuaries · distant kindred · succession · sharia

Read more in the study notes

• Pre-emption (shufa) (Family Law II - Mohammedan Law)
• Muslim law of inheritance: Sunni and Shia (Family Law II - Mohammedan Law)
• Transfer for the benefit of an unborn person and the rule against perpetuity (Property Law)