I fell ill, and I had seven sisters. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came in to see me and breathed upon my face, and I regained consciousness.I said, "Messenger of Allah, shall I not bequeath a third of my property to my sisters?"He said, "Give more."I said, "Half?"He said, "Give more."Then he went out and left me. Later he said, "Jabir, I do not think you will die of this illness of yours. Allah has sent down revelation and made clear the share of your sisters, assigning them two-thirds."The narrator said that Jabir used to say, "This verse was revealed concerning me, 'They ask you for a ruling. Say, Allah gives you a ruling concerning those who leave neither parent nor child. If a man dies childless and has a sister, she receives half of what he left, and he inherits from her if she has no child. If there are two sisters, they receive two-thirds of what he left. If there are brothers and sisters, then the male receives the share of two females. Allah makes this clear to you lest you go astray, and Allah is, of all things, Aleem'" [Nisa 4:176].
اشتكيت وعندي سبع أخوات، فدخل علي رسول الله ﷺ، فنفخ في وجهيي، فأفقت، فقلت: يا رسول الله، ألا أوصي لأخواتي بالثلث؟ قال: أحسن. قلت: الشطر؟ قال: أحسن. ثم خرج، وتركني. فقال: يا جابر، لا أراك ميتا من وجعك هذا، وإن الله قد أنزل، فبين لأخواتك، فجعل لهن الثلثين. قال: فكان جابر يقول: أنزلت هذه الآية في: {يستفتونك قل الله يفتيكم في الكللة إن امروا هلك ليس له ولد وله أخت فلها نصف ما ترك وهو يرثها إن لم يكن لها ولد فإن كانتا اثنتين فلهما الثلثان مما ترك وإن كانوا إخوة رجالا ونساء فللذكر مثل حظ الأنثيين يبين الله لكم أن تضلوا والله بكل شيء عليم} [النساء: ١٧٦].
Abu Dawud (2887) narrated it from Uthman bin Abu Shayba, who said, "Kathir bin Hisham narrated to us, Hisham, meaning Dastawai, narrated to us, from Abu Zubayr, from Jabir," and he related it. Its chain of transmission is sahih.The companions differed over who is meant by "kalalah." Most of the companions said it refers to one who has no child and no father. The same was reported from Umar bin Khattab, just as it was reported from him that he said, "Kalalah is one who has no child." It is said that this was his final position on the matter.Abdul-Razzaq (19287) narrated from Ibn Jurayj, who said, "Ibn Tawus informed me, from his father, from Ibn Abbas, that Umar bin Khattab gave instructions at the time of his death and said, 'Kalalah is as I said.' Ibn Abbas said, 'What did you say?' He said, 'One who has no child.'" End of quote.This is what the verse indicates, where Allah Most High says, "They ask you for a ruling. Say, 'Allah gives you a ruling concerning kalalah. If a man dies leaving no child but has a sister, she gets half of what he left, and he inherits from her if she has no child. But if there are two sisters, they get two-thirds of what he left. If there are siblings, men and women, the male gets the share of two females. Allah makes clear to you, lest you go astray. And Allah is All-Knowing of everything.'" [Nisa 4:176]As for those who held that kalalah means one who has no child and no father, their evidence is the hadith of Bara, who said, "I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, or he was asked, about kalalah, and he said, 'Whoever leaves behind no child and no father.'" Ahmad bin Amr bin Abu Asim narrated it going back to the Prophet ﷺ with a chain whose narrators are trustworthy, as Diya Maqdisi stated in Sunan wal-Ahkam (5/33).Another piece of evidence for them is that the noble verse was revealed concerning Jabir bin Abdullah, who at the time of its revelation had no child and no father, since his father had been killed on the day of Uhud, and the verse was revealed after that. This, then, is a case of the sunnah adding to the Book.As for what was reported from Abu Hurairah, that a man said, "O Messenger of Allah, what is kalalah?" and he said, "Have you not heard the verse that was revealed in the summer, 'They ask you for a ruling. Say, "Allah gives you a ruling concerning kalalah"' [Nisa 4:176]. Kalalah is one who leaves behind no child and no father," this is daif.Hakim narrated it (4/336) from Abu Nadr the jurist, who said, "Ahmad bin Najda narrated to us, Yahya bin Abdul-Hameed narrated to us, Yahya bin Adam narrated to us, Ammar bin Zurayq narrated to us, from Abu Ishaq, from Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman, from Abu Hurairah," and he related it.Hakim said, "This is a hadith whose chain of transmission is sahih according to the criterion of Muslim." Dhahabi responded to him, saying, "Hamani is daif." I say, this is as he said, for this Hamani used to lie, as Imam Ahmad said. Nasai and others also declared him daif, except that Yahya bin Main held a favorable opinion of him and said, "He is trustworthy." He was asked about him, and it was said to him, "They say such things about him." He said, "They envy him. By Allah, besides whom there is no god, he is trustworthy." Ibn Adi said, "I have not seen any objectionable hadiths in his musnad, and I hope that there is no harm in him."However, most scholars held the view that he should be declared daif, and that is the correct view.