Islamic Inheritance Calculator: Faraid Shares for Every Heir
Our Islamic inheritance calculator divides an estate among the spouse, children, parents and full siblings by the Quranic shares of the Hanafi school. It shows each heir's fraction, percentage and amount after debts, funeral costs and any will.
How to Use the Islamic Inheritance Calculator
Start the inheritance calculator with the total value of everything the deceased owned, such as cash, gold, property and business shares. Add the funeral costs, the debts and any will to people who are not heirs. Then choose whether the deceased was a man or a woman.
Pick the number of each living relative from the lists. The Islamic inheritance calculator works out the shares at once and shows a table with the fraction, the percent and the amount for each heir. When several heirs of one type share a portion, the table also gives the amount for each person.
What Comes Out Before the Shares
Islamic law settles three things before any heir receives a share. The funeral is paid first, then every debt, including an unpaid mahr owed to the wife. A will comes third and can cover at most one third of what is left.
The one third limit comes from the hadith of Sad ibn Abi Waqqas in Sahih al Bukhari. Another hadith says there is no will for an heir, so a will can only benefit people who do not already inherit. The inheritance calculator cuts any will above one third and tells you so in the note.
Fixed Shares in the Quran
Surah An Nisa sets the fixed shares in verses 11, 12 and 176. These fractions are called the faraid, and the heirs who receive them come first. The Islamic inheritance calculator applies them before anything else.
| Heir | Share | Condition |
| Husband | 1/2 or 1/4 | 1/4 when the wife left children |
| Wife or wives together | 1/4 or 1/8 | 1/8 when the husband left children |
| One daughter with no son | 1/2 | Two or more daughters share 2/3 |
| Mother | 1/6 or 1/3 | 1/6 with children or two or more siblings |
| Father | 1/6 | Also takes the residue when there is no son |
| One full sister | 1/2 | Only with no child, no father and no brother |
Several wives always share one quarter or one eighth between them. The share does not grow with the number of wives.
The Residue and the 2:1 Rule
Whatever remains after the fixed shares goes to the residuary heirs, called asaba. A son is the strongest residuary heir. When sons and daughters inherit together, each son receives twice the share of each daughter.
With no son, the father takes the residue. With no son and no father, full brothers take it, and they share with full sisters at the same 2:1 ratio. A son or a father blocks every brother and sister completely.
Worked Example With the Default Values
A man leaves Rs 10,000,000, a wife, two sons, one daughter and his mother. The wife takes 1/8 because there are children, and the mother takes 1/6. That leaves 17/24 of the estate for the children.
The children split 17/24 into five parts, two for each son and one for the daughter. Each son receives 17/60 and the daughter receives 17/120. The Islamic inheritance calculator shows Rs 1,250,000 for the wife and Rs 1,666,666.67 for the mother. It gives Rs 2,833,333.33 to each son and Rs 1,416,666.67 to the daughter.
Awl and Radd: When the Shares Do Not Add Up
Sometimes the fixed shares add up to more than the whole estate. A woman who leaves a husband and two full sisters is the classic case, because 1/2 plus 2/3 is 7/6. Under awl every share shrinks in proportion, so the husband takes 3/7 and the sisters take 4/7.
The opposite case is radd. A mother and one daughter take 1/6 and 1/2, which leaves 1/3 with no residuary heir. The surplus returns to them in proportion, so the mother ends with 1/4 and the daughter with 3/4. The inheritance calculator applies both rules and names them in the note.
Under Hanafi rules the spouse does not take part in radd. If the spouse is the only heir, most courts today give the rest to the spouse, and the inheritance calculator follows that practice.
The Umariyyatan Cases
Two cases follow a ruling of Caliph Umar. If the only heirs are the husband, the mother and the father, the mother takes one third of what is left after the husband. That gives the husband 1/2, the mother 1/6 and the father 1/3.
With a wife instead of a husband, the wife takes 1/4, the mother 1/4 and the father 1/2. Our Islamic inheritance calculator detects both cases on its own.
Pakistan Law and the Limits of This Tool
Section 4 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 changes one rule in Pakistan. The children of a son or daughter who died before the grandparent receive the share their parent would have taken. The inheritance calculator does not model grandchildren, so speak to a lawyer in that case.
- The tool follows the Hanafi school, which most Sunni Muslims in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh follow.
- Shia Jafari rules differ in many cases and are not covered.
- Grandparents, grandchildren, half siblings, uncles and cousins are left out.
Use the inheritance calculator to understand the shares and to start a family discussion. For a court case or a property transfer, take the result to a mufti or a family lawyer.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Islamic inheritance calculator free?
Yes, it is free and runs in your browser.
What does a wife get in Islamic inheritance?
A wife gets 1/8 with children and 1/4 without children.
Does a son get double the share of a daughter?
Yes, each son gets twice the share of each daughter.
Do brothers inherit when a son is alive?
No, a son or a father blocks all brothers and sisters.
Can the inheritance calculator handle several wives?
Yes, choose up to four wives and they share one portion.
How much can a will cover?
A will can cover up to one third of the estate after debts.
Which school does the inheritance calculator follow?
It follows the Hanafi school of Sunni law.
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