IV.

LECTURE to (live in) a hostile country (dár-ul-harb), and him, who becomes an apostate in a hostile country and lives therein, as in both cases he is a resident in a hostile country.Sharífiyyah, page 149.

Principle.

XC. If, however, his apostacy be not known, nor his life, nor his death, then the rule concerning him (is) the rule concerning a lost person.* So neither his property shall be divided, nor his wife shall be taken in marriage until intelligence is received in respect of him.†

If his heirs lay a claim (to his property) upon the allegation of his becoming an apostate in a hostile country, the same shall not be listened to, except upon the evidence of two upright Musalmáns. But when they give evidence, the Kází should pass judgment that, separation take place between him and his wife, and his property be divided amongst his heirs; since upon the judgment being given by the Kází, he is regarded as civiliter mortuus. And if he do return after the passing of the Kází's judgment, and deny his having become an apostate, (yet) the Kází shall not change his order; consequently, he shall get back neither his wife nor his property, save and except that which has remained exactly as it was in the hands of his heir; just as in the case of a known apostate returning with penitence.-Sharífiyyah, pages 149 and 150.

ANNOTATIONS.

lxxxix & xc. A captive is, with respect to inheritance, on the same footing as all Muhammadans, so long as he abides in the faith. If he abandons the faith, his condition is like that of other apostates. And if it be unknown whether he has apostatized or not, or is alive or dead, the rules respecting him are the same as those applicable to missing persons.-B. M. L., page 171.

* Sirájiyyah, page 53.

† Sharífiyyah, page 149.

LECTURE V.

ON COMPUTATION OF SHARES, (viz.,)

On the Divisors of Shares-Equality-Proportion-Agreement-Difference of

two Numbers, and-Arrangement.

re

ORIGINALLY, there are six shares in the Muhammadan Prelimilaw, namely, a moiety, a fourth and an eighth; two-thirds, nary re one-third, and one-sixth. These shares are divided into two series-the first three of the shares forming the first series, and the other three, the second. And there are certain numbers of shares into one of which an estate is originally divided. These numbers are called the divisors of shares or roots of cases.-Now in the cases of several of the above shares occurring together, the way of finding the divisor is the following: 1-When all or any of the second series of the shares occur with a half (which is of the first series), then the divisor is six; when the former occurs with a fourth, the divisor is twelve, and when with an eighth, it is twenty-four. And, 2-the way of determining the divisor in any of the cases in which the shares of both the abovementioned two series do not occur together, but of one only, is-that the divisor be

* If there are shares to be extracted which belong to different series, the extractor (or divisor) must be sufficiently large to admit of being divided by all the shares without a fraction, and it is the smallest number which is so divisible. Thus where there is a half with one or more of the other series, the extractor is six, which is the least number divisible by a half, a sixth, a third, and two-thirds, without a fraction; and when there is a fourth with one or more of the other series, the smallest number divisible without a fraction by a fourth, a sixth, a third, and two-thirds, is twelve, which is accordingly the extractor of the case. In like manner, where an eighth is found in conjunction with a sixth, a third, or two-thirds, the extractor is twenty-four, which is the lowest number that can be divided by all these numbers without a fraction.-B. M. L., page 88.

LECTURE proportionate to the lowest or smallest share in the case. V. For instance, where there are two claimants, the share of one of whom is a moiety, and of the other an eighth, there, (to give the share of the claimant of one-eighth), the division must be made by eight; and where there are claimants of one-sixth and one-third, there, the property is made into six. All these will be illustrated with examples in the body of the Lecture.

The Arabian lawyers not having had the fractions which we have, such as, anna, pie, gunda, kourí, kránti, dantif and so forth,-have had recourse to multiplication or multiplications by which each claimant might get his or her share in integral numbers. For instance, in the case of there being a father, mother, and three daughters, onesixth part of the deceased's estate devolves on the father, one-sixth on the mother, and two-thirds go to the daughters: the estate, therefore, must be divided into six shares, of which the father takes one, the mother also one, and there remain four or two-thirds which go to the three daughters; but the same do not quadrate with them. Now according to our method the whole estate would at first be converted into sixteen annas, and two-thirds thereof-amounting to ten annas, thirteen gundas, one kourí, and one kranti, the portion of the daughters as above,-would be subdivided into three parts to give to each of the three daughters her individual share; and each of these three parts-amounting to three annas, eleven gundas, one kránti and one danti-would be the proportion of the share of each daughter. But as the Arabs cannot have recourse to this method, or any other convenient method of fractioning, they multiply the divisor, that is, the root of the case, by the number of the claimants whose shares are fractional, and allot integral parts to each claimant in proportion to his or her right. So

*When there are two or more shares, but they all fall within the same series, as a sixth, a third, (and two-thirds), or a half, a fourth, and an eighth, the name of any of the shares might serve the purpose of an extractor (or divisor); yet there would be this inconvenience in assuming the greater share for the purpose, that the smaller must be expressed by a fraction. The rule, therefore, in all such cases, is, that the name of the lowest shall be for the extractor. Thus when the shares are a third, and a sixth, the extractor is six, and when they are a half, a fourth and an eighth, the extractor is eight; and the estate is divisible into six or eight portions accordingly.-B. M. L., page 87.

There are sixteen annas to a rupee, twenty gundas to an anna, four kourís to one gunda, or three krántis or nine dantis to one kouri.

V.

in the case cited, as four (constituting two-thirds of the LECTURE estate) could not be divided among three daughters without a fraction, the divisor six, into which the estate was first divided, is multiplied by three, and the product being eighteen, three will go to the father, three to the mother, and the remaining twelve to the three daughters-four to each: thus each of the claimants will get his or her share in integral parts. Where, however, the product of the first multiplication would not give integral parts to all the claimants in proportion to their rights in the heritage, there the multiplication of that product or gradual products will be repeated until integral parts quadrate with the proportion of every claimant's right and share. For examples hereof vide Principles ciii-cx, and the illustrations relative thereto. But before going into the process of multiplying and dividing as above, it is necessary to know the description of the number of the shares and persons, as well as the relations between the shares and the persons entitled to them. Now the numbers are of four sorts: 1-Similar or equal (Mutamásil), 2-Concordant (Mutadákhil), 3— Composit (Mutwáfik), and 4–Prime (Mutabayin). The numbers are said to be equal, when they exactly agree with each other, as three and three;-Concordant, where one number being multiplied exactly measures or exhausts the other, as six divided by three or two is exhausted by either of them ;-Composit, where a third number measures or exhausts them both, as eight and twenty are measured by four, and so they agree in a fourth,-and Prime, where no number (except one) measures them both, as nine and ten.*

There are seven rules systematically laid down in the Sirájiyyah as well as in several other works on Inheritance, according to which different descriptions of cases are settled, and distributions are made. These are given in full in the body of the Lecture. In working out, however, accord

*If you wish to know agreement or disagreement between two different numbers, go on diminishing the larger of them by the smaller until they agree in one point: if they agree in unit only, there is no agreement, but disagreement, between them; if they agree in two, there is between them agreement in half; if in three, then in a third, and so on as far as ten. This process is denominated "Kasúr-ul-mun takah ;" and if (they agree) in eleven, then (the agreement is) in a fraction of eleven (that is, in eleventh,) and so on this (latter) is called "Asim."-Durr-ul-Mukhtár, page 878.

V.

LECTURE ing to those rules, it is to be borne in mind that should there be found a common measure or agreement between the claimants and the shares, the former is to be divided by the common measure, and the root of the case multiplied by the quotient. This will be found in many of the illustrations of those rules as well as in some of the rules themselves.

Principle. XCI. There are six shares which are of two sorts or series: First,-a moiety, a fourth, and an eighth; Second,-two-thirds, a third, and a sixth.

Principle.

There are three rules of division, (viz.):

XCII. When half (which is from the first sort,) is mixed with all of the second sort, (that is, twothirds, one-third, and one-sixth), or with any of them, then the division (of the estate) must be by six.* 2-When a fourth is mixed with all the shares of the

ANNOTATIONS.

xci. Know that the six shares mentioned in the book of Almighty God are of two sorts of the first are-a moiety, a fourth and an eighth; and of the second sort are-two thirds, a third, and a sixth.—Sirájiyyah, page 23.

Now, when any of these shares occur in cases singly, the divisor for each share is that (number) which gives it the name, (except half, which is from two), as fourth is denominated from four, an eighth from eight, and a third from three (also a sixth from six†): and when they occur by two or three, and are of the same sort, then each integral number is the proper divisor to produce its fraction, also to produce the double of that fraction, and also the double of that;- -as six produces a sixth, and, likewise, the double of that (which is a third†), and also the double of that (which is two-thirds†); so eight produces an eighth, and, likewise, the double of that number, that is a fourth, also the double of that, which is half.-Vide Sirájiyyah, page 23.

Where a husband inherits from his childless wife, (his share in this case being one-half), and there are other claimants entitled to a sixth, a third, and two-thirds, such as a father, a mother, and two sisters, the division must be by six.-Macn. Princ, M. L., Chap. I, Sect. iv, Princ. 64.

† Sharifiyyah, pages 52, 53.