according to Ahmad and those who agree with him, and for the first four according to Abu Hanifa and those who agree with him. The remaining four are excluded except in the rare report. In sum, no one from the mother's side inherits except for one, and no more than two from the father's side, which are the two mentioned in the report, except for Abu Hanifa and those who agree with him, for as they ascend in degree, he increases the number of them from the father's side by one.

1016- Issue: He said: "And if some of them are closer than others, the inheritance is for the closest of them."

As for when one of the two grandmothers is the mother of the other, scholars are in consensus that the inheritance is for the closer one, and the more distant one is excluded by her. If they are from two different sides and the closer one is from the mother's side, then the inheritance is hers, and she excludes the more distant one according to the opinion of the majority of them, except for what was narrated from Ibn Mas‘ud, Yahya ibn Adam, and Sharik that the inheritance is shared between them. And it is narrated from Ibn Mas‘ud: if they are from two sides, they are equal, and if they are from one side, it is for the closer one. He means by this that if the two grandmothers on the father's side, one of them is the mother of the father and the other is the mother of the grandfather, the mother of the grandfather is excluded by the mother of the father. The rest of the scholars hold that the closer one from the mother's side excludes the more distant one from the father's side. As for the closer one from the father's side, does she exclude the more distant one from the mother's side? There are two reports from Ahmad regarding this: the first is that she excludes her, and the inheritance is for the closer one. This is the opinion of ‘Ali, peace be upon him, and one of the two reports from Zayd. This is also the opinion of Abu Hanifa and his companions, and the people of Iraq, and it is the opinion of al-Shafi‘i. The second report from Ahmad is that it is shared between them. This is the report established from Zayd, and it is the opinion of Malik and al-Awza‘i. It is also the second opinion of al-Shafi‘i, because the father through whom the grandmother is related does not exclude the grandmother from the mother's side, so the one who is related through him is more worthy of not being excluded by her. Through this, the closer one from the mother's side differs from her, for she is related through the mother, and she...