It is said: The intent behind it is that whoever has only a maternal uncle has no heirs, just as it is said: 'Hunger is the provision for him who has no provision, water is the perfume for him who has no perfume, and patience is the stratagem for him who has no stratagem.' Or that he intended by the 'maternal uncle' the Sultan (authority). We say: This is invalid, for three reasons: First, that he said, 'He inherits his wealth,' and in another version, he said, 'He inherits from him.' Second, the Companions understood this, so Umar wrote this as a response to Abu Ubaydah when he asked him about the inheritance of the maternal uncle, and they are more entitled to understanding and correctness than others. Third, he named him an heir, and the fundamental principle is that words are to be taken literally. As for their argument that this usage is employed for negation, we say: It is also used for affirmation, as in their saying: 'O pillar for him who has no pillar, O support for him who has no support, O store for him who has no store.' Sa'id (9) narrated: Abu Shihab informed us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, from Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Hibban, from his paternal uncle Wasi' ibn Hibban, who said: Thabit ibn al-Dahdahah passed away and left behind neither an heir nor agnates (asabah). His case was brought before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave his wealth to his sister’s son, Abu Lubabah ibn 'Abd al-Mundhir. Abu 'Ubayd narrated it in 'al-Amwal' (10), except he said: He did not leave behind anyone except a daughter of a brother of his, so the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) decreed his inheritance for his brother’s daughter. Also, because he is a relative, he inherits, like those with prescribed shares (dhawi al-furuḍ); this is because he equals the people in Islam and exceeds them by kinship, so he is more entitled to his wealth than they are. For this reason, he was more entitled during his lifetime to his charity and maintaining ties with him, and after death to his bequest, so he resembles those with prescribed shares and those agnates (11) who are obstructed, when there is no one present to obstruct them. And their hadith is mursal (a link in the chain is missing). Furthermore, it is possible that he has no inheritance alongside those with prescribed shares and agnates; and for this reason, he named the maternal uncle 'the heir of one who has no heir,' meaning he does not inherit except in the absence of an heir. As for their statement that the two do not inherit alongside their brother (12), we say: That is because those (the brothers) are stronger than them. As for their statement that inheritance is only established by textual evidence, we say: We have already mentioned texts. Moreover, the derivation of a reason (ta'lil) is mandatory whenever possible, and it is possible here, so one should not resort to pure devotional worship (ta'abbud).
(9) In: Bāb al-'amma wa al-khāla (The Chapter on the paternal and maternal aunts), al-Sunan 1/70, 71. It was also recorded by al-Darimi, in: Bāb mīrāth dhawī al-arhām (The Chapter on the inheritance of the People of Kinship), from Kitāb al-Farā'id, Sunan al-Dārimī 2/381. And 'Abd al-Razzaq, in: Bāb al-khāla wa al-'amma wa mīrāth al-qarāba (The Chapter on the maternal aunt, paternal aunt, and the inheritance of kin), from Kitāb al-Farā'id, al-Muṣannaf 10/284, 285. (10) We did not find it in the printed edition available to us. (11) In the manuscripts: "wa al-'aṣābāt". (12) In the original manuscript: "akhūhumā". In [A]: "ikhwatuhumā". In [M]: "akhawātuhumā". It was mentioned earlier at the beginning of the chapter.
