What is the ruling on inheritances belonging to one who dies without an heir or a will for a third of their estate, and what are the sayings of the Imams of Fiqh (Hanafis, Shafi'is, Malikis, Hanbalis, Zaidis, Imamis, Zahiris) regarding this, along with their texts and references?

Scholars have differed regarding the estate of a person who dies with no heir. Some are of the view that the wealth goes to the relatives by blood (dhawu al-arham), and this is the madhhab of the Hanbalis, Hanafis, Zaydis, and Imamis. Others held that it goes to the public treasury (bayt al-mal), and this is the madhhab of the Shafi'is, Malikis, and Zahiris. However, later Shafi'i and Maliki scholars made an exception for cases where the public treasury is not properly managed, in which case the inheritance is given to the relatives by blood.

The preponderant opinion is that relatives by blood take precedence over the public treasury, based on the Almighty's saying: "And those of [kinship] relationship are more entitled to each other in the Book of Allah." [Al-Anfal: 75], and His saying: "For men is a share of what the parents and close relatives left" [Al-Nisa: 7], and based on the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: "The maternal uncle is the heir of one who has no heir." As for cases where there are no relatives by blood, the estate goes to the properly managed public treasury; otherwise, it goes to the general welfare of the Muslims.