The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Knowledge has three categories; anything else is extra; a precise verse, or an established sunnah (practice), or a firm obligatory duty.

The last verse revealed about the decease who left no descendants or ascendants: "They ask thee for the legal decision. Say: Allah directs (thus) about those who leave no descendants or ascendants as heirs."

A grandmother came to AbuBakr asking him for her share of inheritance. He said: There is nothing prescribed for you in Allah's Book, nor do I know anything for you in the Sunnah of the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) Go home till I question the people. He then questioned the people, and al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah said: I had been present with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when he gave grandmother a sixth. AbuBakr said: Is there anyone with you? Muhammad ibn Maslamah stood and said the same as al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah had said. So AbuBakr made it apply to her. Another grandmother came to Umar ibn al-Khattab asking him for her share of inheritance. He said: Nothing has been prescribed for you in Allah's Book. The decision made before you was made for a grandmother other than you. I am not going to add in the shares of inheritance; but it is that sixth. If there are two of you, it is shared between you, but whichever of you is the only one left gets it all.

I fell ill, and I had seven sisters. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to me and blew on my face. So I became conscious. I said: Messenger of Allah, may I not bequeath one-third of my property to my sisters? He replied: Do good. I asked: Half? He replied: Do good. He then went out and left me, and said: I do not think, Jabir, you will die of this disease. Allah has revealed (verses) and described the share of your sisters. He appointed two-thirds for them. Jabir used to say: This verse was revealed about me: "They ask thee for a legal decision. Say: Allah directs (thus) about those who leave no descendants or ascendants as heirs.

A man came to Abu Musa al-Ash'ari and Salman b. Rabi'ah, and asked about a case where there were a daughter, a son's daughter and full sister. They replied: The daughter gets half and the full gets half. The son's daughter gets nothing. Go to Ibn Mas'ud and you will find that he agrees with me. So the man came to him and informed him about their opinion. He said: I would then be in error and not be one of those who are rightly guided. But I decide concerning the matter as the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did: The daughter gets half, and the son's daughter gets a share which complete thirds (i.e. gets a sixth), and what remain to the full sister."

We went out with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and came to a woman of the Ansar in al-Aswaf. The woman brought her two daughters, and said: Messenger of Allah, these are the daughters of Thabit ibn Qays who was killed as a martyr when he was with you at the battle of Uhud, their paternal uncle has taken all their property and inheritance, and he has not left anything for them. What do you think, Messenger of Allah? They cannot be married unless they have some property. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Allah will decide regarding the matter. Then the verse of Surat an-Nisa was revealed: "Allah (thus) directs you as regards your children's (inheritance)." Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Call to me the woman and her husband's brother. He then said to their paternal uncle: Give them two-thirds and their mother an eighth, and what remains is yours.

Abu Dawud said: The narrator Bishr made a mistake. They were the daughters of Sa'd b. al-Rabi' for Thabit b. Qais was killed in the battle of Yamamah.

The wife of Sa'd b. al-Rabi said: Messenger of Allah, Sa'd died and left two daughters. He then narrated the rest of the tradition in a similar way.

Abu Dawud said: This is the most correct tradition.

Mu'adh b. Jabal gave shares of inheritance to a sister and a daughter. He gave each of them half. He was at Yemen while the Prophet (ﷺ) was alive.

I fell ill, and the Prophet (ﷺ) and Abu Bakr came to me on foot to visit me. As I was unconscious, I could not speak to him. He performed ablution and sprinkled water on me ; so I became conscious. I said: Messenger of Allah, how should I do in my property, as I have sisters? Thereafter the verse about inheritance was revealed: "They ask thee for legal decision. Say: Allah directs (thus) about those who leave no descendants or ascendants as heirs."

A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah, they ask thee for a legal decision about a kalalah. What is meant by kalalah? He replied: The verse revealed in summer is sufficient for you.

I asked AbuIshaq: Does it mean a person who dies and leaves neither children nor father? He said: This is so. The people think it is so.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) assigned the estate of a child of a woman about whom she had invoked a curse to her mother, and to her heirs after her.

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: A Muslim may not inherit from an infidel nor an infidel from a Muslim.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: Islam increases and does not diminish. He, therefore, appointed a Muslim heir (of a non-Muslim).

Mu'adh bought the property of a Jew whose heir was a Muslim. He then narrated from the Prophet (ﷺ) to the same effect.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: An estate which was divided in pre-Islamic period may follow the division in force then, but any estate in Islamic times must follow the division laid down by Islam.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: The right of inheritance belongs to only to the one who paid the price (of the slave) and patronised him by doing an act of gratitude.

Tamim asked: Messenger of Allah), what is the sunnah about a man who accepts Islam by advice and persuasion of a Muslim? He replied: He is the nearest to him in life and in death.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade selling or giving away the right to inheritance by a manumitted slave.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When an infant has raised its voice (and then dies), it will be treated as an heir.