During that period in the third year of the Hijri calendar, the Quran prescribed the division of inheritance for a Kalalah individual (someone who has neither parents nor children) in the following manner:
Suran al-Nisa 4:12:
۔۔۔ وَإِن كَانَ رَجُلٌ يُورَثُ كَلاَلَةً أَوِ امْرَأَةٌ وَلَهُ أَخٌ أَوْ أُخْتٌ فَلِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِّنْهُمَا السُّدُسُ فَإِن كَانُواْ أَكْثَرَ مِن ذَلِكَ فَهُمْ شُرَكَاءُ فِي الثُّلُثِ ۔۔
... And if a man or woman leaves neither ascendants nor descendants but has a brother or a sister, then for each one of them is a sixth. But if they are more than two, they share a third ...
Consequently, in the 3rd Hijri year, the distribution of inheritance for a Kalalah person included the following provisions for the share of brothers and sisters:
- If the Kalalah person had only one brother or sister, their share was set at 1/6th of the estate.
- In the case of multiple brothers and sisters, they would all receive equal portions from 1/3rd of the estate.
However, a complication arose six years later when, in the 9th Hijri year, the writer of the Quran (Muhammad himself) seemingly forgot this ruling and claimed a new revelation, altering the share of brothers and sisters for a Kalalah person. The revised distribution was as follows:
Surah al-Nisa, verse 176:
يَسْتَفْتُونَكَ قُلِ ٱللَّهُ يُفْتِيكُمْ فِى ٱلْكَلَٰلَةِ ۚ إِنِ ٱمْرُؤٌا۟ هَلَكَ لَيْسَ لَهُۥ وَلَدٌ وَلَهُۥٓ أُخْتٌ فَلَهَا نِصْفُ مَا تَرَكَ ۚ وَهُوَ يَرِثُهَآ إِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهَا وَلَدٌ ۚ فَإِن كَانَتَا ٱثْنَتَيْنِ فَلَهُمَا ٱلثُّلُثَانِ مِمَّا تَرَكَ ۚ وَإِن كَانُوٓا۟ إِخْوَةً رِّجَالًا وَنِسَآءً فَلِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ ٱلْأُنثَيَيْنِ ۗ
They request from you a [legal] ruling. Say, "Allah gives you a ruling concerning one having neither descendants nor ascendants [as heirs]." If a man dies, leaving no child but [only] a sister, she will have half of what he left. And he inherits from her if she [dies and] has no child. But if there are two sisters [or more], they will have two-thirds of what he left. If there are both brothers and sisters, the male will have the share of two females.
Hence, in the 9th Hijri year, the distribution of inheritance for a Kalalah person introduced the following shares for brothers and sisters:
- A single sister of a Kalalah person would receive half of the estate.
- A single brother of a Kalalah person would inherit the entirety of the estate (i.e., twice the share of a sister).
- If there are two or more sisters, the remaining two-thirds of the estate would be divided equally among them.
- In the presence of both brothers and sisters, the entire estate would be divided in a manner where brothers receive double the share of sisters.
Consequently, these two Quranic verses present a significant contradiction concerning the shares of brothers and sisters of a Kalalah person, causing confusion among Muslims.
Maududi wrote under the commentary of this verse of Surah al-Nisa 4:176 (link):
This verse was revealed long after the revelation of the rest of this surah. According to certain traditions, this verse was the very last Qur'anic verse to be revealed. (For these traditions, see Ibn Kathir's comments on this verse - Ed.) Even if this is disputed, it shows at least that this verse was revealed in 9 A.H., whereas the Muslims had been reciting the present surah, al-Nisa, for quite some time before that. It was for this reason that this verse was not included among the verses relating to inheritance mentioned at the beginning of the surah, but was attached to it at the end as an appendix (i.e. it is the last verse of Surah al-Nisa).
