Islamic inheritance calculator
Divide an estate under Islamic law: fixed shares, residuary heirs, exclusions, awl and radd, as fractions and amounts.
Frequently asked questions
What is deducted before the estate is divided?
First the reasonable funeral and burial costs, then the debts of the deceased, then any bequest to people who are not heirs, limited to one third of what remains. The heirs share the rest.
What are fixed shares and residuary heirs?
Fixed-share heirs (ashab al-furud) receive the fractions named in the Quran, such as one half, one quarter, one eighth, two thirds, one third and one sixth. Residuary heirs ('asaba), such as sons, the father or brothers, take what is left; a son takes twice the share of a daughter.
What are 'awl and radd?
'Awl happens when the fixed shares add up to more than the estate: every share is reduced in proportion. Radd happens when a surplus remains and there is no residuary heir: the surplus returns to the fixed-share heirs, except the spouse, in proportion to their shares.
Why can a relative inherit nothing?
Closer relatives exclude more distant ones (hajb). For example, a son excludes grandsons, brothers and uncles; the father excludes the grandfather and all brothers and sisters; the mother excludes the grandmothers.
Where do the schools of law differ?
The main differences handled here are the grandfather with brothers and sisters (excluded by him for the Hanafis, shared for the others), the Himariyya case (shared third for the Malikis and Shafi'is) and the paternal grandmother with the father (she inherits for the Hanbalis).
Which situations are not covered?
Distant relatives (dhawu al-arham), descendants below the son's children, unborn children, missing persons, people who died together, freed-slave patronage and impediments such as homicide or difference of religion are not covered. Ask a scholar in these cases.
How the Islamic inheritance calculation works
This page divides an estate according to the Islamic law of inheritance (faraid, or 'ilm al-mawarith). It is meant for Muslim families, students of faraid and anyone who needs a first, clear picture of who inherits what. You choose the currency, enter the value of the estate, state whether the deceased was a man or a woman, and select the surviving relatives among 23 types of heirs, from spouses and children to grandparents, siblings, nephews, uncles and cousins. The result shows exact fractions, the common base, percentages and amounts.
The calculation follows the order of the Sharia. First the funeral and burial costs are paid, then the debts of the deceased, then any bequest to non-heirs, limited to one third of what remains (hadith of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas); a bequest to an heir needs the consent of the other heirs. The rest is divided among the heirs. Fixed-share heirs receive the fractions of the Quran (4:11, 4:12 and 4:176): one half, one quarter, one eighth, two thirds, one third or one sixth. Residuary heirs ('asaba) take what is left, with a male receiving twice the share of a female. Closer relatives exclude more distant ones (hajb).
'Awl and radd keep the total equal to the whole estate. When the fixed shares add up to more than one, every share is reduced in proportion ('awl); when a surplus remains and no residuary heir exists, it returns to the fixed-share heirs in proportion, except the spouse (radd). The calculator also recognizes the classical special cases: al-'Umariyyatan, al-Mushtaraka (al-Himariyya), al-Akdariyya, al-Mu'adda, and the grandfather with brothers and sisters according to Zayd ibn Thabit. The school select changes only the disputed points: whether the grandfather excludes siblings (Hanafi), whether full siblings share the maternal third (Maliki, Shafi'i) and whether the father's mother inherits with the father (Hanbali). The default is the majority Sunni view.
Example: an estate of 120,000 with funeral costs of 2,000, debts of 10,000 and a bequest of 5,000 leaves 103,000 to distribute. The heirs are a wife, a son and a daughter. The wife takes one eighth, which is 12,875.00; the rest goes to the children, the son receiving twice the daughter's share: 7/12, or 60,083.33, for the son and 7/24, or 30,041.67, for the daughter. On a common base of 24 these are 3, 14 and 7 units. In the classic Minbariyya case (a wife, two daughters, the father and the mother) the shares exceed the estate and are reduced on a base of 27. Family situations vary and court practice differs, so confirm the result with a qualified scholar or a Sharia court before distributing an estate.