[Chapter: The Origins of the Shares of Inheritances that Undergo 'Awl (Increase in Denominator)]

The meaning of the origins of issues (usul al-masa'il) are the denominators from which their assigned shares are derived. The origins of all issues are seven, because the assigned shares mentioned in the Book of Allah the Almighty are six: a half, a quarter, an eighth, two-thirds, a third, and a sixth. The denominators for these shares, when taken individually, are five; for the third and two-thirds share the same denominator, the half is from two, the third and two-thirds are from three, the quarter is from four, the sixth is from six, the eighth is from eight, the quarter with the sixth, the third, or the two-thirds is from twelve, and the eighth with the sixth or the two-thirds is from twenty-four, thus they become seven. These shares are of two types: the first is the half, its half, and the half of its half. The second is the two-thirds, its half, and the half of its half. Any issue that has a single assigned share, its origin is from its denominator. If it has two shares where one is derived from the denominator of the other, its origin is from the denominator of the smaller of the two. If it has two shares of different types where neither is derived from the denominator of the other, multiply one of the two denominators by the other, or by its agreement (wafq), and the result is the origin of the issue. Within this, 'awl occurs, because 'awl only happens in an issue where the shares crowd one another, and the estate is insufficient for them. Every issue containing a half and a share of the other type has an origin of six, because the denominator of the half is two, and the denominator of the third and two-thirds is three, so you multiply two by three, and it becomes six, and likewise for the rest.

Inheritance issues are of three types: balanced (adila), those that undergo 'awl (a'ila), and those of rejection (radd). The balanced is that whose estate equals its shares. The 'a'ila is that whose shares exceed its estate. The radd is that whose estate exceeds its shares, and there are no agnates (asaba) in it. We will mention examples of these types in this chapter, with the help of Allah.