As pointed out earlier, inheritance results due to marriage or con sanguinity, and there is no difference of opinion that the husband or wife has a share with all other heirs, the husband being entitled to one-fourth when there are descendants and one-half in their absence, and the wife to one-eighth in the presence of descendants and one fourth in their absence. The schools differ concerning a daughter’s offspring, whether he/she is in the category of descendants whose presence is capable of lo.wering the share of the spouse from its higher to its lower limit or if his/her presence and absence has no effect. Details of this will come while discussing the inheritance of spouses. There is again no:difference of opinion that the distribution of the heritage begins with ashab al-furud (the ‘sharers,’ whose shares have been determined by the Qur’an) and that there are six kinds of these shares. But the schools differ regarding the number of sharers entitled to these sbares and regarding the residuaries (those entitled to the re mainder after the sharers have received their shares).
The schools also differ about the capacity to inherit of: daughter’s children; uterine paternal uncles and aunts; and maternal uncles, aunts and grandfather. We mentioned earlier that these heis fall in the cate gorS of distant kindred in the classification adopted by the four Sunni schools, and the Nles applicable to them differ from those applicable to the sharers and residuaries.
