Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdu Rabbih ibn Said that AbuBakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham only gave a fixedshare to two grandmothers (together).Malik said, "Thegenerally agreed on way of doing things among us in which there is nodispute and which I saw the people of knowledge in our city doing, isthat the maternal grandmother does not inherit anything at all withthe mother. Outside of that, she is given a sixth as a fixed share.The paternal grandmotherdoes not inherit anything along with themother or the father. Outside of that she is given a sixth as a fixedshare." If both the paternal grandmother and maternal grandmother arealive, and the deceased does not have a father or mother outside ofthem, Malik said,."I have heard that if the maternal grandmother isthe nearest of the two of them, then she has a sixth instead of thepaternal grandmother. If the paternal grandmother is nearer, or theyare in the same position in relation to the deceased, the sixth isdivided equally between them."Malik said, "None of thefemale grand-relations except for these two has any inheritancebecause I have heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, gave the grandmother inheritance, and then AbuBakr asked about that until someone reliable related from theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that hehad made the grandmother an heir and given a share to her. Anothergrandmother came to Umar ibn al-Khattab, and he said, 'I am not one toadd to fixed shares. If there are two of you together, it is betweenyou. If either of you is left alone with it, it is hers.' " Maliksaid, "We do not know of anyone who made other than the twograndmothers heirs from the beginning of Islam to this day."
USC-MSA web (English) reference: Book 27, Hadith 6
Arabic reference: Book 27, Hadith 1082