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What is the share of each heir from the inheritance of a man who died leaving behind a wife, a full brother, a brother and a sister from the mother's side, and sons of a brother from the mother's side?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the deceased's heirs are limited to the wife, the maternal siblings, and the full brother, then the inheritance is distributed as follows:

The wife: receives one-fourth as a prescribed share, due to the absence of a lineal descendant, based on Allah's saying: "But if you have no child, then for them [i.e., your wives] is one fourth of what you leave" (An-Nisa:12). The maternal siblings: receive one-third, due to their plurality and the absence of an ascendant or lineal descendant, based on Allah's saying: "And if a man or a woman leaves no direct heir but has a brother or a sister [on the mother's side], then each one of them gets a sixth; but if they are more than two, they share in a third" (An-Nisa:12), and it is divided equally among them, male and female. The full brother: inherits the remainder by way of residuary inheritance (ta'sib), based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Give the prescribed shares to those entitled to them; and whatever remains is for the closest male heir" (Al-Bukhari and Muslim).

Example of share distribution: If the inheritance is divided into 12 shares: The wife: 3 shares (one-fourth). The maternal siblings: 4 shares (one-third). The full brother: 5 shares (the remainder).

It should be noted that matters of inheritance are serious, and they must be referred to Sharia courts to verify all heirs, debts, and bequests before division.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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