Islamic Inheritance (Faraid) Explained, With a Worked Example

The order of settlement

• 1. Funeral and burial costs
• 2. Debts
• 3. The wasiyyah — a bequest of no more than one third of what remains, generally not to heirs
• 4. The rest is divided among the heirs in the shares set by faraid

Who inherits, and how

Heirs fall into two groups. Fixed-share heirs (ashab al-furud) receive set fractions. Residuary heirs (asaba) take what is left. Some heirs are blocked (hajb) by closer ones — for example, siblings do not inherit alongside a son or the father under Hanafi rules.

The most common fixed shares

• Husband: one half, or one quarter if there are descendants
• Wife (or wives, shared equally): one quarter, or one eighth if there are descendants
• Mother: one sixth if there are descendants or two or more siblings, otherwise one third
• Father: one sixth if there are descendants, and he may also take the residue
• One daughter alone: one half; two or more daughters alone: two thirds
• Sons and daughters together: the residue, two parts to each son and one to each daughter

A worked example

A woman dies leaving an estate of 280,000 after debts, and is survived by her husband, her mother, two sons and one daughter. With descendants present, her husband takes one quarter (70,000) and her mother one sixth (46,666.67). The remaining 163,333.33 is shared among the children in the ratio 2 : 2 : 1 — each son 65,333.33 and the daughter 32,666.67.

If she had also left a wasiyyah of 100,000, only one third of the estate — 93,333.33 — could be honoured, and the fixed shares would be worked out on the remaining 186,666.67.

Where the schools of law differ

The Hanafi, Maliki, Shafiʿi, Hanbali and Jaʿfari schools agree on most shares but differ on details such as the grandfather with siblings, the treatment of certain distant relatives and how proportional reduction (ʿawl) is applied. Wirātha calculates the Hanafi position and flags the other schools rather than guessing.

Do not forget the digital half

Accounts, cryptocurrency and cloud files are part of the estate too, and each heir’s share applies to them. Recording them, and giving the right people access, keeps them from being lost.