Home · Inheritance

How the estate divides

Enter what was left and who survives. Funeral costs, debts and any bequest come out first; the rest is shared by the fixed shares of Sūrat al-Nisāʾ. An example family is filled in.

Every rule citedMajority Sunni positions. Not a fatwa and not a legal will.

Ink drawing of an open handwritten book with a ruled table, a reed pen and an inkwell.

The estate

Estate Funeral costs Debts Bequest

Who survives them

Wives الزوجات 1

Sons الأبناء 2

Daughters البنات 1

Full brothers الإخوة 0

Full sisters الأخوات 0

Father الأب Mother الأم

More relatives

Son’s sons أبناء الابن 0

Son’s daughters بنات الابن 0

Paternal half-brothers الإخوة لأب 0

Paternal half-sisters الأخوات لأب 0

Maternal half-siblings الإخوة لأم 0

Father’s father الجد Mother’s mother الجدة لأم Father’s mother الجدة لأب If the grandfather and siblings both survive

If anything is left over

Without a valid will, state law decides.If a Muslim dies without a will that is valid in their state, the estate is divided by that state’s intestacy law, not by these shares. A spouse and children often receive very different amounts. Write a will with an estate attorney that directs the estate to be divided by the Islamic shares. Accounts with a named beneficiary and jointly owned property usually pass outside a will, and some states give a spouse rights a will cannot override; ask your attorney how to bring everything in line with the shares.

Heir	Share	Receives

The evidence

The order of payment: al-Sirājiyyah (al-Sajāwandī), opening chapter. The bequest limit: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2742; no bequest to an heir: Sunan Abī Dāwūd 2870 (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ). The shares: Qurʾān, al-Nisāʾ 4:11, Qurʾān, al-Nisāʾ 4:12, Qurʾān, al-Nisāʾ 4:176. The remainder to the nearest male relative: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6732. Sisters with daughters: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6736. ʿAwl: Ruling of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb with the Companions; al-Sirājiyyah, chapter on ʿawl. Radd: Ḥanafī and Ḥanbalī schools; al-Sirājiyyah, chapter on radd. All sources

This calculator covers spouses, children, son’s children, parents, grandparents, and full, paternal and maternal siblings. Nephews, uncles, cousins and daughter’s children can also change the answer; ask a scholar if any of them survive. Then write a legal will in your state so the shares can be carried out.