A woman dies leaving a husband, mother, uterine brothers and full brothers. The fixed shares exhaust the estate, leaving the full brothers with nothing — unless the school allows them to share.
The Canadian position
Canadian law has no analogue; the will simply has to state which position it follows.
An executor faced with this configuration and no direction cannot distribute without a court application.
The Islamic position
The Maliki and Shafi'i schools let the full brothers share the uterine third. The Hanafi and Hanbali schools leave them with nothing.
The case is reported as arising before 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, and the nickname Himariyya comes from the argument put to him.
The schools split two against two, and both sources consulted put the same schools on the same sides. The Maliki and Shafi’i schools share the third equally among all the siblings, full and uterine alike, male and female alike. The Hanafi school and Ahmad, on the sounder report from him, drop the full brothers altogether: they inherit only as residuaries, and the fixed shares have already used up the estate. The case is named from the protest — “suppose our father was a donkey; is our mother not the same mother?” — which made ‘Umar reverse his first ruling.
All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — The mushtaraka case — do the full brothers share the uterine siblings’ third?.
Making an Islamic will in Canada — province by province, and what makes one valid where you live →
This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.
Citations & sources
Every factual claim on this page traces to a source below. Details change — check the original source before relying on any figure, fee or legal position. Anything under “further reading” is related material, not a source for what is stated here.
- Surah an-Nisa 4:11 — shares of children and parents — Quran.com
- Surah an-Nisa 4:12 — shares of spouses and uterine siblings — Quran.com
- Surah an-Nisa 4:176 — the kalalah verse — Quran.com
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 85: Laws of Inheritance (Faraid) — Sunnah.com
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Inheritance — Sunnah.com
- Encyclopaedia of Islam — Brill
- How long does executor have to distribute estate — Treadstone Law
- Executor removing court application ontario — Treadstone Law
- Removing executor ontario court application — Treadstone Law
- Transmission application vs full probate when ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law