Umm al-armal (a named inheritance case)

أم الأرامل

Umm al-armal is one of the named cases in inheritance: two grandmothers, three wives, four uterine sisters, and eight full or consanguine sisters. It is called the seventeen case because its shares total seventeen. 1 It starts at twelve and rises to seventeen. 1

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At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Family, marriage and kinship

Definition

Umm al-armal is one of the named cases among the scholars of shares. Its heirs are two grandmothers, three wives, four uterine sisters, and eight full or paternal sisters. It is called the seventeen case, after its shares, and also the case of the feminine, since all the heirs are women. 1

Shares

The base is twelve, rising to seventeen: two grandmothers take a sixth, two shares; three wives take an eighth of the quarter, three shares; four uterine sisters take a third, four shares; and eight sisters take two thirds, eight shares. 1

People and things also explored

Taj Mahal· Abawan (the two parents)· Justice among co-wives· Obstructing a marriage (adl): the guardian and the husband· Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)· Ahl al-Nasab (the kin by descent, and who counts as kin in bequests and endowments)· Akdariyya (a named inheritance case)· Brother (full, paternal and maternal) in law

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3401
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Umm al-armal (a named inheritance case)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/umm-al-armal/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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