Two historically named problems (‘Umariyyatain, al-Mushtarakah) and five uncertain situations (dzawil arham, khuntsa, mafqud, an unborn child, simultaneous death) — as discussed in at-Tahqiqat, following the same principle throughout: caution, and withholding whatever share is in doubt.
Al-‘Umariyyatain
Composition: only a husband/wife + mother + father. Umar’s ruling (agreed upon by all four madhhabs): the mother gets 1/3 of the remainder after the spouse’s share is taken out — not 1/3 of the whole estate — so that the father : mother ratio stays 2 : 1.
| With a husband (base 6) | With a wife (base 4) |
|---|---|
| husband 3 · mother (6−3)÷3 = 1 · father 2 | wife 1 · mother (4−1)÷3 = 1 · father 2 |
The conditions are strict: exactly a spouse plus both parents, with no children and no siblings. If a child is present → the mother reverts to the usual 1/6; if the father is replaced by a grandfather → the mother reverts to the full 1/3.
Al-Mushtarakah (al-Himariyyah)
Composition: husband + mother/grandmother + 2 or more maternal half-siblings + a full brother. The fixed shares exhaust base 6 (3+1+2), leaving the full brother (‘asabah) with nothing. There are two Companion positions here: Umar (in his final ruling) folded the full brother into a share of the maternal half-siblings’ 1/3 (tashrik — followed by the Maliki and Shafi’i madhhabs); the Hanbali madhhab’s position — and the one favored by contemporary Saudi scholars, including al-Fawzan’s line — is no tashrik: the fixed shares have already exhausted the estate, so the ‘asabah indeed gets nothing, in line with the general sense of the hadith, “give the shares to those entitled to them; what remains goes to the nearest male relative.”
Dzawil arham
Relatives who hold neither a fixed share nor ‘asabah status (a daughter’s daughter’s children, a maternal grandfather, a sister’s son, a paternal aunt, a maternal uncle, etc.) inherit only when both the blood-related fixed-share heirs and the ‘asabah are entirely absent. The method is tanzil: each such relative stands in the position of the intermediate relative who connects them to the deceased (a sister’s son → the sister’s position; a paternal aunt → the father’s position), and the estate is then calculated as if the intermediaries themselves were inheriting. A spouse is still paid their fixed share first and does not receive radd.
Four uncertain situations
flowchart TB
classDef proses fill:#713f12,stroke:#ca8a04,color:#fef9c3
classDef aman fill:#134e4a,stroke:#14b8a6,color:#ccfbf1
classDef bahaya fill:#7f1d1d,stroke:#ef4444,color:#fee2e2
A["Status uncertain?"]:::proses --> B["KHUNTSA MUSHKIL:<br/>calculate 2 scenarios (male/female),<br/>everyone is given their SMALLER share,<br/>the difference is withheld until clarified/settled"]:::aman
A --> C["MAFQUD:<br/>their share is withheld;<br/>the waiting period is left to the judge's discretion"]:::aman
A --> D["UNBORN CHILD:<br/>delay, or withhold the largest-scenario share;<br/>condition: conceived at death + born alive"]:::aman
A --> E["SIMULTANEOUS DEATH with no known order<br/>(drowning/collapse/accident):<br/>they do NOT inherit from each other"]:::bahaya
- Khuntsa mushkil (a person of uncertain sex) — two scenarios are calculated, every party receives their smaller share, and the rest is withheld.
- Mafqud (a missing person) — as a decedent: the estate is not divided until a judge rules on the death; as an heir: their share is withheld, and the others receive their smaller entitlement.
- An unborn child — in practice, the largest-scenario share is withheld (usually calculated as if two sons), then corrected once the child is born.
- Gharqa/hadma (simultaneous death) — they do not inherit from each other; each person’s estate passes directly to their own surviving heirs. If the order of death is known, ordinary inheritance rules apply — and this often triggers munasakhat (successive deaths; the merging technique is the same one used in the Ibn Uthaymin bundle — its complex case studies can be used across bundles because the underlying rules are identical).
The common thread
There is no new formula in this chapter — only the standard procedure run per scenario, plus the discipline of withholding whatever is not yet certain. This is exactly the spirit of at-Tahqiqat: strange cases are resolved with the very same tools.
Sources: at-Tahqiqat al-Mardhiyyah, chapters on al-‘Umariyyatain, al-mushtarakah, dzawil arham, al-khuntsa, al-mafqud, al-haml, al-gharqa; history of al-Mushtarakah: IslamQA 496015. Full list in 15-references.