How is the estate of a maternal uncle divided, who died without a son, living brothers, or sisters, and whose existing heirs are his brother's and sister's children, in addition to his brother's unmarried daughter and his wife?

Firstly: The fatwa among the late jurists of the four schools of thought has settled on the inheritance of uterine relatives (dhawu al-arham) when there are no Ashab al-Furood (sharers) or Asabat (residuaries), based on the Almighty's saying: "But those of [blood] relationship are more entitled [to inheritance] in the decree of Allah" (Quran 8:75), and on Aisha's (may Allah be pleased with her) narration that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The maternal uncle is the heir of one who has no heir." Inheritance for them was affirmed by Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, and Ibn Abbas in the most common narrations, as well as by a number of Tabi'een (successors), the Hanafis, Imam Ahmad, and the later Maliki and Shafi'i jurists.

Secondly: The method of inheriting for uterine relatives is by "tanzil" (descent); meaning that each uterine relative descends to the position of the heir through whom they are related, and takes their share. So, the daughter's son inherits the daughter's share, and the maternal uncle inherits the mother's share, and so on.

Thirdly: In the case where a husband dies and leaves a wife, a full brother's daughter, and a full sister's children (males and females): 1. The wife receives one-fourth as a fixed share, and the remainder is not returned to her. 2. The remaining portion is divided among the uterine relatives: The full brother's daughter takes two shares of the remainder (her father's share). The full sister's children (males and females) take the last share. Scholars have two opinions on how to divide among them: the first is equally between males and females (the Hanbali view), and the second is for the male to receive the equivalent of the share of two females (the Shafi'i view).