What is the ruling regarding holding a share when the missing heir would have been a barrier to inheritance for others?
Chapter on Distant Kindred (Dhawu al-Arham)
Al-Mughni
Book of Inheritance Shares (Farā'id)
Primary text
If a missing person would have acted as a barrier to inheritance for certain heirs (e.g., a husband, full sister, and half-sister, with a missing full brother), then the share that would have gone to the missing person is held in trust between the remaining claimants. The sounder view is that this amount should be held, as distributing it to an heir who only inherits in the missing person's absence constitutes inheritance based on doubt. Holding the amount is a suspension of distribution between the two uncertain possibilities (life or death), not an affirmation of non-inheritance.
Supporting text
A dissenting opinion suggests nothing should be held, and the half-sister should receive her share because she is not excluded by doubt, just as she does not inherit based on doubt. This is contradicted by the principle that giving her the share amounts to inheritance based on doubt. The middle path of holding the share is preferred over enforcing the life scenario which would deny the possibility of the missing person's death.