Where the four schools stand
Agreed. In the two configurations husband + mother + father and wife + mother + father, the spouse takes his or her Qur’anic fraction first (a half, or a quarter), the mother then takes a third of what is left rather than a third of the whole estate, and the father takes the remainder. So with a husband the split is 1/2 : 1/6 : 2/6, and with a wife it is 1/4 : 1/4 : 1/2. Ibn Qudama reports the ruling as ‘Umar’s, followed by ‘Uthman, Zayd ibn Thabit and Ibn Mas‘ud, and then names Malik, al-Shafi’i and the Hanafis as holding it — on a text of al-Khiraqi that states the Hanbali position itself. That is all four schools in one passage. The reasoning is that where the parents inherit together the father takes twice the mother, and that proportion should survive the spouse’s share being taken out first. Ibn ‘Abbas held the mother should take a third of the whole; Ibn Qudama concedes his argument from the bare wording of the verse is a strong one, and says only that the Companions’ consensus had already closed against it. We checked this point; the schools do not differ on it.
Shared evidence: Surah an-Nisa 4:11 — “if he is childless and his parents are his heirs, his mother receives one third” · Surah an-Nisa 4:12 — the spouse’s half and quarter, which are taken out first.
Not covered by this finding: the same configuration where a grandfather stands in the father’s place — on the Hanbali rule stated in al-Mughni the mother then takes a third of the whole, which is not the ‘Umariyyatan result, and the other schools’ treatment of that variant — not yet researched school by school. Treat that as open and ask a scholar of your school.
Researched finding from our madhhab register — issue umariyyatan, reviewed 2026-08-19.
Full evidence and history: The two ‘Umariyyatan cases — the issue page.
Questions that turn on this
Every answer below renders its madhhab position from this one entry, so the positions cannot drift apart between pages.
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.
- 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
- al-Mughni, Kitab al-Fara’id — the mother’s three positions (mas’ala 4825), the father’s three (4826), the two ‘Umariyyatan (4830) and the residuary composition rule (fasl 4824) — Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (d. 620 AH)
- al-Mughni (Maktabat al-Qahira edition) — full Arabic text — Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (d. 620 AH)
- Bidayat al-Mujtahid wa Nihayat al-Muqtasid, vol. 2 — Book of Wasaya (bequests) and Book of Fara’id (inheritance), trans. Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee — Ibn Rushd (Averroes, d. 595 AH)