Islamic Fiqh > Inheritance and wasiya > The mother and ascendants: shares and rules
The mother's sixth or third, the two-parents-with-spouse case, the grandfather in the father's place and grandmothers: the ascendants' regime.
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Updated on 31 August 2026 at 3:55 AM
The mother takes the third when there is neither a child of the deceased, nor a child of a child, nor a group of siblings; with a child of the deceased, she takes the sixth. If only the two parents remain: to the father the two thirds, to the mother the third (Ibn al-Mundhir: agreement of the scholars).
The father takes the sixth as a fixed share when a child of the deceased exists, and takes in addition the residue as agnate: with a daughter or a daughter of a son, he takes the sixth then all that remains. The grandfather replaces the father in his absence according to the same general rule (Ibn al-Mundhir: agreement on the equality of his judgment with the father's, and on the sixth with the child). With the siblings of the deceased without a fixed share: Abu Hanifa, supported by a group of Companions and chosen by Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim, excludes the siblings like the father; the majority of the schools make the grandfather share in the division when no fixed share is present.
The grandmother takes the sixth. Abu Bakr granted the sixth to a grandmother who came to complain, then confirmed it before witnesses; Umar did the same for the other grandmother: "if the two join, it is for both, and the one who remains alone, it is for her" (reported by Abu Dawud 2894 ; Tirmidhi 2100 ; Ibn Majah 2724, weak); Ubbada ibn as-Samit: "the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) allotted to the two grandmothers the sixth to share between them" (reported by Abd Allah ibn Ahmad, sahih). Example from the faraid books: husband, mother, grandfather and german sister: the shares rest upon nine: to the husband three (the half), to the mother two (the third), to the grandfather one (the sixth), to the sister three (the half); the mass then rises from nine to twenty-seven (aoul): the husband nine shares, the mother six, and the remaining twelve shares divide between the sister (four) and the grandfather (eight) by way of sharing between them.
The majority (Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi'is, Ahmad in one narration, Uthman, Ali, Zayd ibn Thabit): the father excludes his own mother, for she is linked through him and does not share with him. The Hanbalis, over the residue: she takes the sixth and the father the rest.
The mother and the ascendants come after the descendants and beside the spouse: first spot a child of the deceased, who moves the mother from the third to the sixth, then check the grandfather's presence for the question of sharing with the siblings.