Section: On the inheritance of the fetus: If a person dies leaving a fetus that will inherit from him, the matter is deferred until it becomes clear. If the heirs demand the division [of the estate], they are not given the entire wealth, without dispute, except for what was narrated from Dawud, though the correct position from him is like the view of the majority. Instead, the one whom the fetus does not decrease is given his full inheritance, and the one whom it does decrease is given the least of what he would receive; nothing is given to someone who would be entirely excluded by it. As for those who share with it, most scholars said: something is set aside for the fetus, and the remainder is given to its partners. This is the position of Abu Hanifah, his companions, al-Layth, Sharik, and Yahya ibn Adam. It is also one narration of al-Rabi' from al-Shafi'i. The most famous position from him [al-Shafi'i] is that nothing is given to its partners, because there is no limit to the fetus, and we do not know how much should be left for it. Al-Mawardi narrated: A man from the people of Yemen, who came seeking knowledge and was a man of religion and virtue, told me that a woman in Yemen gave birth to something like a rumen (stomach lining), so it was thought there was no child in it, and it was cast upon the roadside. When the sun rose and it became heated by it, it moved, so it was taken and cut open, and seven male children came out of it, and they all lived and were of sound formation, except that there was a shortening in their upper arms. He said: One of them wrestled with me and threw me, and I used to be reproached for it, as it would be said: 'A seventh of a man has thrown you.' Someone I trust also informed me in the year 608 or 609, regarding a blind man in Damascus who said: 'My wife gave birth in these days to seven in one pregnancy, both boys and girls.' There was in Damascus a mother of a child to one of its notables, and she married after him a man who used to read to me, and she used to give birth to three in every pregnancy. Others said: This is rare and cannot be relied upon, so it is not permissible to prevent the inheritance on its account, just as if no pregnancy were apparent in the woman. Those who hold the view of deferment differed regarding what is to be set aside. It was narrated from Ahmad that the share of two males is set aside, if their inheritance is greater, or two daughters if their share is greater. This is the view of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan and al-Lu'lu'i. Sharik said: The share of four is set aside, for I saw the sons of Ismail as four born in one pregnancy: Muhammad, Umar, and Ali. Yahya ibn Adam said: And I think the fourth was Ismail. Ibn al-Mubarak narrated this view from Abu Hanifah, and al-Rabi' narrated it from al-Shafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him.