Radd (return) and concurrence of shares

Definition of the radd

The radd is the opposite of the aoul: the fixed shares do not exhaust the estate and no agnate exists to take the residue; the surplus is then returned to the holders of shares, proportionally to their shares, so that each one's fraction rises without changing his rank.

The spouses excluded from the radd

Agreement: no surplus is returned to the husband nor to the wife, for their share comes from the bond of marriage, a cause that ends with death, and not from the kinship that remains after it; the heirs by kinship keep their ground of eligibility and are more worthy of the surplus.

The radd's proportional return

The majority of the jurists return the residue to the heirs by kinship according to their respective shares; others direct it to the public treasury of the Muslims; the discussion bears on the cases where the treasury exists and on the relative strength of each heir's cause.

The aoul, the reverse of the radd

When the shares exceed the estate, the aoul increases the denominator for each: every heir sees his fraction go down but keeps his relative rank: the husband remains a relative half, the mother a relative third, as in the example of the husband with the parents and six daughters, raised from twelve to fifteen shares.

Practical note on the radd

Two adjustments cover every gap: too many shares, the aoul; incomplete shares without an agnate, the radd; incomplete shares with an agnate, the residue goes to the agnate without radd. These three rules close the distribution system.