Islamic Inheritance Calculator
Enter the estate and the family members alive at the death to see each heir’s Quranic share, its fraction and the amount they get.
The estate
Cash, property, gold, shares, money owed to them.
Loans, unpaid bills, unpaid mahr owed to the wife.
Paid first, before debts.
To people who don’t inherit or to charity. Capped at 1/3 of what is left after debts.
Family alive at the death
Count only relatives alive when the person died. Anyone who died before them doesn’t inherit. If a son died first, enter his children as son’s sons and son’s daughters (Advanced); a daughter’s children are distant relatives, which this calculator doesn’t cover.
How your inheritance is worked out
Pay costs and debts, take out any bequest, give the fixed shares, then share what is left.
- 1
Pay costs and debts
$100,000
− $4,000
= $96,000 - 2
Bequest, up to 1/3
will $0
(cap $32,000)
share $96,000 - 3
Fixed shares first
wife 1/8
1/8 of it
= $12,000 - 4
Share the rest
rest 7/8
= $84,000
son 2 : daughter 1
Read more: the formula, a worked example, the shares and where scholars differ
Islamic inheritance (mirath, or ‘ilm al-fara’id) follows Surah an-Nisa 4:11, 4:12 and 4:176, the Sunnah and the rulings of the Companions. This calculator follows the Sunni rules as most schools apply them. Where the schools give a clearly different answer, it follows the Hanafi position and tells you so in the result.
The formula
estate to share = estate − funeral costs − debts − bequest (at most 1/3 of what is left after debts)
each fixed-share heir = their fraction × estate to share
the rest = estate to share − all fixed shares, split among the residuary heirs, a male getting 2 parts and a female 1
if the fixed shares add up to more than 1 (awl): each share ÷ total of the shares
if something is left and no residuary (radd): the spouse keeps their share, the rest goes to the other heirs in proportion to their shares
Worked example
A man dies leaving $100,000, with $4,000 of debts. His wife, one son and one daughter survive him.
- Estate to share: $100,000 − $4,000 = $96,000. There is no bequest.
- Wife: there are children, so she gets 1/8. $96,000 × 1/8 = $12,000.
- The rest: $96,000 − $12,000 = $84,000 (7/8). The son counts as 2 parts and the daughter as 1, so 3 parts of $28,000.
- Son: 2 × $28,000 = $56,000 (7/12). Daughter: $28,000 (7/24).
- Common base: 24 parts. Wife 3, son 14, daughter 7, which adds up to 24. Check: $12,000 + $56,000 + $28,000 = $96,000.
The fixed shares (fard)
| Heir | Share | When |
|---|---|---|
| Husband | 1/2 · 1/4 | 1/4 if the wife left a child or son’s child |
| Wife (or wives, shared) | 1/4 · 1/8 | 1/8 if the husband left a child or son’s child |
| Daughter | 1/2 · 2/3 | 2/3 shared by two or more; with a son, they share the rest 2:1 |
| Son’s daughter | 1/2 · 2/3 · 1/6 | 1/6 with one daughter; blocked by a son or two daughters (unless a son’s son is there) |
| Father | 1/6 · rest | 1/6 with a son; 1/6 + rest with only daughters; the rest with no children |
| Mother | 1/3 · 1/6 | 1/6 with a child or two or more siblings; 1/3 of the remainder in the Umariyyatan |
| Paternal grandfather | as father | Only if there is no father |
| Grandmother(s) | 1/6 | Shared by both; blocked by the mother (the father also blocks his own mother) |
| Full sister | 1/2 · 2/3 | Only with no son, son’s son, father (or grandfather). With a brother, 2:1; with daughters, she takes the rest |
| Paternal half sister | 1/2 · 2/3 · 1/6 | 1/6 with one full sister; blocked by a full brother, by two full sisters (unless a paternal half brother makes her a residuary with him), or by a full sister who takes the residue with daughters |
| Maternal half siblings | 1/6 · 1/3 | 1/3 shared equally by two or more; only in kalalah (no children or son’s children, no father or grandfather) |
The residuary heirs (asaba)
What is left after the fixed shares goes to the nearest male relative through males, in this order: sons, then son’s sons, then the father, then the grandfather, then full brothers, then paternal half brothers, then nephews, uncles and cousins. Daughters, son’s daughters and sisters join their brothers and take half a brother’s part. A full or paternal sister also takes the rest when there are daughters but no brother (asaba ma‘a al-ghayr). The nearer residuary blocks the further one.
Special cases
- Umariyyatan (the two cases of Umar): husband or wife + mother + father only. The mother gets one third of what is left after the spouse, so the father gets twice her share.
- Awl: husband + two full sisters + mother gives 1/2 + 2/3 + 1/6 = 8/6. The base of 6 is raised to 8: husband 3/8, sisters 4/8, mother 1/8.
- Radd: daughter + mother gives 1/2 + 1/6 = 4/6. With nobody to take the rest, the base drops to 4: daughter 3/4, mother 1/4.
- Kalalah: someone who leaves no children and no father. Their brothers and sisters inherit, as in 4:12 and 4:176.
Where scholars differ
- Grandfather with brothers and sisters. This calculator follows Abu Hanifa: the grandfather blocks them, like the father. The Shafi‘i, Maliki and Hanbali schools (and Abu Yusuf and Muhammad) let them share with him under more detailed rules.
- Mushtaraka (husband, mother, two or more maternal half siblings and full brothers). Hanafi and Hanbali: the full brothers get nothing. Shafi‘i and Maliki: they share the 1/3 with the maternal siblings.
- Radd. Hanafi and Hanbali (and later Shafi‘i and Maliki scholars) give the surplus back to the heirs except the spouse. The early Shafi‘i and Maliki view sends it to the public treasury. When only a spouse is left, this calculator gives them the rest, as later Hanafi scholars and many modern laws do.
- Paternal grandmother with the father. Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi‘i: the father blocks her. Hanbali: she inherits with him.
- Distant relatives (dhawu al-arham, such as a daughter’s children or maternal uncles) are not in this calculator. Hanafi and Hanbali scholars let them inherit when there is no fixed-share or residuary heir.
This is a guide based on the classical rules, not a religious ruling or legal advice. Many countries apply their own personal status or succession law (for example the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan and Malaysia), and some add rules such as obligatory bequests for grandchildren whose parent died first. Checked 13 October 2026.
Common questions
How is Islamic inheritance worked out?
First pay the funeral costs and the debts, then any bequest (at most one third, and not to an heir). What is left is shared: heirs with fixed shares from the Quran (such as 1/8 for a wife with children, 1/6 for each parent with children) take theirs first, and the rest goes to the residuary heirs, usually sons and daughters with a son getting twice a daughter.
Why does a son get twice a daughter?
Surah an-Nisa 4:11 says “to the male, a portion equal to that of two females” when sons and daughters inherit together. Scholars explain that a man must provide for his wife, children and often parents, while a woman’s inheritance is hers alone. The same 2:1 rule applies to brothers and sisters inheriting together, but not to maternal half siblings, who share equally.
What are awl and radd?
Awl is used when the fixed shares add up to more than the whole estate: every share is scaled down in proportion (for example 6 parts become 8). Radd is the reverse: when fixed shares leave something over and there is no residuary heir, the surplus goes back to the fixed-share heirs in proportion, except the husband or wife.
Can I leave more than one third in my will?
A bequest (wasiyya) can be up to one third of the estate after debts, and it can’t go to someone who already inherits. Most scholars say a larger bequest, or one to an heir, is valid only if the heirs agree after the death. This calculator caps it at one third.
Does this follow my country’s law?
Many countries, including the Gulf states, Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia and India (for Muslims), apply Islamic inheritance through their own personal status or succession laws, and these can differ from the classical rules in places (for example, obligatory bequests for orphaned grandchildren). Use this as a guide and check with a qualified scholar, lawyer or the court that will handle the estate.
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Made by Zulu Calculator, part of AlphaZulu LLC. Formulas are shown in full and rule figures are checked against official sources; see how we build calculators.