[1] (s.a.w.): is the abbreviation of the Arabic phrase "Salla 'llahu 'alayhi wa alih" (may God bless him and his progeny).
[2] (a.s.): is the abbreviation of "'alayhi 's-Salam" (peace be upon him)
[3] The principle of 'awl (proportionate reduction) is
applied by Sunni jurists when the estate of the deceased
is 'oversubscribed' by Quranic heirs. In such a case they
scale down all the heirs' portions pro rata, or, in other
words, they increase the number of portions into which
the inheritance is to be divided so that each may take a
share.
Shi'ite jurists, on the other hand, maintain that a
diminution must be made only in the shares of daughters
and agnate sisters.
The principle of ta'sib is applied by Sunni jurisprudence to give priority to male agnates as heirs, and this results in many mathematical complexities in their system of inheritance. The Shi'ite jurists completely repudiate this.
The tradition from Ibn 'Abbas concerns mainly the question of 'awl where he establishes two types of Quranic heir, the first whose portions are fixed, the second whose portions are not guaranteed.
Another peculiarity of the Shi'ahs is the principle that the clothes, sword, Qur'an and ring of the father are to be left solely to the son.
Finally, the wife can never inherit cultivated or
uncultivated land, neither in itself, nor the money
obtained from its sale. Similarly she cannot inherit
trees or buildings, but she can take their sale price.
This matter is attested to by, and can be proved from the
ahadith of the Imams.
There is a basic classification in fiqh of animals whose
blood spurts out when a blood vessel is cut (e.g. cows,
dogs, chicken, etc.) and those whose blood does not (e.g.
fish).
The point which this hadith may seem a little obscure. Mu'min at-Taq wishes to show that the existence of the Imam precludes the need for reference to numerous and obscure books and traditions. We are to understand that it is the Imam who has guided him to the correct verse in the Qur'an for this matter and to its correct interpretation. Thus Abu Hanifah thinks he will catch him off-guard with an obscure question about an unusual species of sea creature, but the answer if forthcoming.