Islamic Inheritance Shares (Faraid) — A Worked Example for Beginners

Islamic inheritance law — faraid — is one of the most precisely defined areas of Islamic finance. The Quran lays down fixed shares for specific relatives (Surah An-Nisa, 4:11–12 and 4:176), and classical scholarship turned those verses into a working arithmetic that can distribute an estate to the exact rupee.

The result surprises beginners twice. First, because the shares are mathematical rather than discretionary — nobody “decides” who gets what. Second, because the most misunderstood rule, the 2:1 son-to-daughter ratio, is only one piece of a system in which women hold guaranteed, unchangeable portions.

This guide walks through the rules, then computes a complete, real-numbers example. The example family is a composite illustration, not a real case.

The four steps before any heir gets a rupee

Division happens only after three obligations are settled from the estate, in this order:

1. Funeral and burial expenses — paid first.
2. Debts — every outstanding debt, including unpaid mahr (the dower owed to the wife, which is her personal claim against the estate), loans, and taxes due.
3. Bequests (wasiyyah) — the deceased may leave up to one-third of what remains to non-heirs (charity, a friend, an adopted child). A bequest to someone who is already an heir has no effect unless all the other heirs agree to it after the death.
4. Distribution — only now do the fixed shares apply, to whatever is left.

This ordering is part of the arithmetic: you never apply the fractions to the gross estate.

The fixed-share table (the shares that never change)

The principal Quranic heirs and their shares:

• Husband: 1/2 if there are no children; 1/4 if there are.
• Wife: 1/4 if there are no children; 1/8 if there are — shared equally among co-wives where there is more than one.
• Father: 1/6 when there are children (plus the remainder if the children are daughters only); takes the remainder as residuary when there are no children.
• Mother: 1/3 when there are no children and fewer than two siblings; 1/6 when there are children, or two or more siblings.
• Daughter: 1/2 when she is the sole daughter and there are no sons; 2/3 shared between two or more daughters when there are no sons.
• Sons: no fixed share — they are residuaries (asaba), taking what remains after the fixed shares. When sons inherit alongside daughters as residuaries, each son takes twice a daughter’s portion.

“Children” here also covers grandchildren through a son when there are no sons of the deceased.

Worked example: the full calculation

The example (a composite, not a real family): a man dies leaving a net estate of Rs 12,000,000 — that is after funeral costs, after his debts (including Rs 500,000 of unpaid mahr, settled with his widow as a debt before distribution), and with no bequests. His heirs: a wife, a father, a mother, two sons, and one daughter.

Step 1 — assign the fixed shares.
– Wife: children exist → 1/8
– Father: children exist → 1/6
– Mother: children exist → 1/6
– Two sons + one daughter: residuaries, in the ratio 2 : 2 : 1 — five equal parts of whatever remains.

Step 2 — find the base number. We need a number divisible by 8 and 6; the smallest is 24.
– Wife: 3/24, father: 4/24, mother: 4/24 → 11/24 used, leaving 13/24.
– But 13 does not divide evenly into the children’s 5 parts, so multiply the base by 5: 120.

Step 3 — convert to rupees and check.
– Wife: 15/120 = Rs 1,500,000
– Father: 20/120 = Rs 2,000,000
– Mother: 20/120 = Rs 2,000,000
– Residue: 65/120, split into 5 parts of 13/120 each:
– Each son: 26/120 = Rs 2,600,000 (two sons: Rs 5,200,000)
– Daughter: 13/120 = Rs 1,300,000

Check the total: 1,500,000 + 2,000,000 + 2,000,000 + 2,600,000 + 2,600,000 + 1,300,000 = Rs 12,000,000. Every rupee is accounted for.

Three things worth noticing. First, the widow’s unpaid mahr (Rs 500,000) came out before the division — on top of her Rs 1,500,000 share she actually received Rs 2,000,000 in total, because the mahr is a debt, not a gift. Second, each son received exactly double the daughter: the 2:1 rule applies among the children as residuaries, and only there. Third, the parents each received a fixed, guaranteed share regardless of the children’s portions — the mother doesn’t get “whatever is left”; she gets 1/6 by right.

When the shares add up to more than the estate: ‘awl

Sometimes the fixed shares sum to more than 1. Take a second example: a woman dies leaving a husband, one daughter, a father, and a mother, with a net estate of Rs 13,000,000.
– Husband: 1/4 (a child exists); daughter: 1/2; mother: 1/6; father: 1/6.
– On base 12: 3 + 6 + 2 + 2 = 13/12 — more than the whole estate.

The classical solution is ‘awl, the proportional increase of the base: the denominator rises from 12 to 13, and every heir takes their numerator out of 13. Nobody is cut out; everyone shrinks by the same ratio:
– Husband: 3/13 = Rs 3,000,000
– Daughter: 6/13 = Rs 6,000,000
– Mother: 2/13 = Rs 2,000,000
– Father: 2/13 = Rs 2,000,000

Total: Rs 13,000,000. (The father’s usual residuary right finds nothing left over, so he keeps only his fixed 1/6.)

What can’t be split: the house, the business, the shop

Estates are rarely all cash, and the rules handle this the same way everywhere: value the asset, then divide the value.
– The family home is valued (by agreement or an independent valuer), and one heir can buy out the others’ shares — paying them their rupee amounts, possibly over time.
– Or the asset is sold and the proceeds divided according to the fractions.
– Heirs may also simply co-own it in their fractional proportions.

The fractions never change to fit the asset; the asset is converted to fit the fractions.

Five mistakes that break real distributions

1. Dividing the gross estate. Debts, funeral costs, and the mahr come out first. Every distribution computed on the gross number is wrong by exactly the debts skipped.
2. Letting a will override the shares. A bequest to an heir — “I leave my shop to my eldest son” — has no effect unless every other heir agrees after the death. The one-third limit applies only to non-heirs.
3. Forgetting the widow’s mahr. Unpaid dower is the most commonly skipped debt in real distributions, and it is settled before anyone inherits.
4. Applying 2:1 where it doesn’t belong. The double-share rule governs sons versus daughters as residuaries. It does not reduce a sole daughter’s fixed 1/2, two daughters’ shared 2/3, or a mother’s 1/6.
5. Excluding an heir “by family agreement.” Heirs may voluntarily gift away their shares after distribution, but no one — not even the whole family together — can vote someone out of their fixed share.

Try it on your own numbers

Once the estate is divided, inherited wealth that you still hold after a full lunar year above the nisab becomes zakatable in its own right — the zakat calculator computes the 2.5%, the nisab calculator sets the threshold, and the zakat pillar guide covers the complete background.

FAQ

What is faraid?
Faraid is the Islamic law of inheritance: the system of fixed shares for relatives prescribed in the Quran (Surah An-Nisa) and developed by classical scholarship into precise rules for dividing a deceased person’s estate after debts, funeral costs, and bequests are settled.

How is a wife’s share calculated?
A wife receives 1/4 of the net estate if the deceased left no children, and 1/8 if there are children. Where there is more than one wife, the 1/4 or 1/8 is divided equally among them. Any unpaid mahr is settled first as a debt, separate from this share.

Does a daughter always get half of a son’s share?
No. The 2:1 ratio applies only when sons and daughters inherit together as residuaries, taking what remains after the fixed shares. A sole daughter with no brothers has a fixed share of 1/2; two or more daughters share 2/3. The ratio never reduces these fixed shares.

Can a will change the inheritance shares?
Not for heirs. A Muslim may bequeath at most one-third of the estate, and only to non-heirs such as charity or an adopted child. A bequest favoring an heir is ineffective unless all the other heirs consent after the death.

What happens to the family home?
It is valued — by agreement or an independent valuer — and heirs take their shares in its value: one heir may buy out the others, it may be sold with the proceeds divided by the fractions, or the heirs may co-own it in their fractional proportions.

Do adopted children inherit?
Under classical rules, adoption does not create an inheritance right, so an adopted child has no fixed share. The deceased can, however, leave them up to one-third of the estate through a bequest (wasiyyah).

What if the fixed shares add up to more than the estate?
The base number is increased proportionally — a technique called ‘awl — so every heir’s fraction shrinks by the same ratio and nobody is excluded. (See the worked example above, where the base of 12 became 13.)

Is inherited money subject to zakat?
Inherited wealth you still hold after one lunar year, if it keeps you above the nisab, is zakatable at 2.5% like any other wealth. The inheritance distribution itself is not zakat — it is your property now, and the normal rules apply to it.