Section: The scholars differed regarding kalalah. It has been said: Kalalah is a name for heirs other than parents and offspring. Ahmad explicitly stated this. It is narrated from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: Kalalah is whosoever is other than the child and the parent (3). Those who held this view argued based on the saying of al-Farazdaq regarding the Umayyads (4):

You have inherited the shaft of glory, not from kalalah, but from the two sons of Manaf, Abd Shams and Hashim.

Its derivation is from the "iklil" (crown) that surrounds the head without rising above it. It is as if the heirs, other than the child and the parent, have surrounded the deceased from around him, not from his two extremities—his upper and lower sides—like the crown surrounding the head. As for the parent and the child, they are the two extremities of the person; so if they are gone, the remainder of the lineage is kalalah. The poet said:

So how will my extremities be if you insult me, while after insulting the parents there is no reconciliation (5)?

A group said: Kalalah is a name for the deceased himself who has no child and no parent. This is narrated from Umar, Ali, and Ibn Mas'ud. It was also said: Kalalah is the maternal relative. They argued using the verse of al-Farazdaq that we quoted, meaning: You inherited the sovereignty from your fathers, not from your mothers. It is narrated from al-Zuhri that he said: The deceased who has no child and no parent is kalalah, and his heir is also called kalalah. In the two verses in Surah al-Nisa', the intended meaning of kalalah in both is the deceased. There is no disagreement that the term kalalah applies to siblings from all sides. The validity of this is indicated by the statement of Jabir: "O Messenger of Allah, how is the inheritance? I am only inherited by kalalah (6)." He identified the heir as being the kalalah, and Jabir did not have a child on that day.