Then Allah revealed this verse...

Then Allah revealed this verse: then if there are more than two females, they shall have two-thirds of what (the deceased) has left, and if there is one, she shall have the half; then it was revealed about Umm Kuhhah: and they shall have the fourth from what you leave if you have no child, but if you have a child then they shall have the eighth from what you leave ..." (ibid.) The same two scholars of tradition have narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that he said: "When the verse of shares [of inheritance] was revealed, in which Allah ordained what He ordained [of the shares] for male and female child and (for) parents, people (or, some of them) disliked it and said: '(How is it that) woman is given one-fourth or one-eighth, and daughter gets a half, and a small child is given (his share), while none of them can fight the people, nor can he gather booty?' They used that (system) in the (era of) ignorance: They did not give inheritance except to him who could fight the people; and they gave it to the eldest, then elder [and so on]." (ibid.) The author says: at-Ta'sib (agnacy) was a part of that system of ignorance.

They gave the inheritance to the agnates of father if the deceased had not left a big son capable of fighting. The Sunnis follow the same system in the excess property which is left after giving the prescribed shares.

Perhaps something may be found about it in their traditions; but the traditions coming from the Ahlu 'l-bayt (a.s.) totally reject this theory and say that the excess property shall be returned to those heirs who at other times bear the loss and they are children, consanguine or agnate brothers and in some cases, the father. As mentioned earlier, the verses in their connotation agree with this verdict.

al-Hakim and al-Bayhaqi have narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that he said: "The first person to introduce the system of at- 'awl (= to reduce all shares proportionately) was 'Umar . The shares crowded over and began pushing each other aside. So he said: 'By Allah! I do not know what to do with you. By Allah! I do not understand which of you Allah has given precedence to, and which of you He has deferred.

And I do not find for this property anything better than this: that I should divide it among you proportionately. '" Then Ibn 'Abbas said: "By Allah! if he had given precedence to him whom Allah had given precedence, and put behind the one whom Allah had put behind, there would have been no need for proportionate reduction of shares.