Free Islamic Inheritance Calculator
Divide an estate by Islamic inheritance rules (faraid): debts, funeral costs and a one-third bequest first, then fixed shares, residuaries, exclusion, awl and radd for each heir.
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How to calculate Islamic inheritance shares (faraid)
Divide an estate by Islamic inheritance rules: costs, debts and a bequest of up to one third first, then each heir's fixed or residuary share, with awl and radd.
- Choose your currency and enter the total estate, the funeral and burial costs, debts (including any unpaid mahr) and any bequest to non-heirs.
- Say whether the deceased was a man or a woman, then enter the husband or the number of wives.
- Tick the parents and grandparents who survived, and enter how many children, son's children, brothers, sisters, nephews and paternal uncles survived.
- If a paternal grandfather inherits alongside brothers or sisters, choose the majority view or the Hanafi view.
- Read each heir's fraction, percentage and amount, the relatives who are excluded and the notes on awl or radd, then copy the summary for your scholar or lawyer.
When to use an Islamic inheritance calculator
Islamic inheritance, known as faraid or mirath, divides a Muslim's estate among close relatives in shares set out mainly in Surah An-Nisa (4:11, 4:12 and 4:176). Families use a calculator to understand the shares before speaking with a scholar, to prepare a will that stays within the one-third limit for bequests, or to check a division proposed by someone else.
The order of payment matters: funeral and burial costs first, then debts, including any unpaid mahr, then a bequest (wasiyyah) of up to one third of what remains, and only then the shares of the heirs.
Worked examples of classic cases
A man leaves a wife, a son and a daughter. The wife takes 1/8 because there are children. The son and daughter share the remaining 7/8 as residuaries, the son taking twice the daughter's share: the son receives 7/12 and the daughter 7/24. On a distributable estate of 220,000, that is 27,500, 128,333.33 and 64,166.67.
A woman leaves her husband, mother and father. The husband takes 1/2; the mother takes one third of the remainder, which is 1/6 of the estate; the father takes the rest, 1/3. A woman who leaves her husband and two full sisters creates awl: 1/2 plus 2/3 is 7/6, so the shares are reduced to 3/7 for the husband and 2/7 for each sister. If the heirs are only a mother and a daughter, their shares of 1/6 and 1/2 leave a surplus that returns to them by radd, giving the mother 1/4 and the daughter 3/4.
How the shares are worked out
First the calculator removes relatives who are excluded (hajb) by closer ones, such as siblings by a son or the father. Next it gives the fixed shares (fard): 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 2/3, 1/3 and 1/6 depending on the heir and who else survives. What is left goes to the residuaries (asabah) in order of closeness, with males taking twice the share of females at the same level, as in a well-known hadith in al-Bukhari and Muslim that gives the remainder to the nearest male relative after the fixed shares.
If the fixed shares add up to more than the estate, every share is reduced in proportion (awl). If they add up to less and there is no residuary, the surplus returns to the fixed-share heirs other than the spouse (radd). All arithmetic uses exact fractions, and the result shows each heir's fraction, percentage and amount, plus the amount for each person when several share.
Assumptions and where scholars differ
The calculator follows the Sunni majority. Where the schools differ it says which view it takes: the grandfather with brothers or sisters (an option lets you choose the Hanafi view), the Mushtarakah case of full brothers with maternal siblings, the paternal grandmother with the father, and radd. Distant kindred (dhawu al-arham), a killer, a non-Muslim relative, a missing person, an unborn child and simultaneous deaths are not modelled.
Shia (Ja'fari) inheritance follows a different system of classes and is not covered. Inheritance law also depends on the country, and a court may apply its own statutes, so treat the result as an explanation to discuss with a qualified scholar or lawyer.
Useful tips and limitations
- Only relatives alive at the moment of death inherit. Leave out anyone who died before the deceased.
- Open Madhhab assumptions used to see exactly which positions the calculation follows.
- Enter debts and the funeral costs that were actually paid from the estate, not those paid by relatives as a gift.
- Bequests to people who are already heirs need the consent of the other heirs, so leave them out unless everyone has agreed.
Common questions
What does the wife get in Islamic inheritance?
One quarter of the estate if her husband left no children or son's children, and one eighth if he did. Two to four wives share that quarter or eighth equally.
Does the Islamic Inheritance Calculator replace a scholar or a court?
No. It applies the standard Sunni rules to the relatives you enter. Courts and scholars also consider facts a calculator cannot see, such as gifts made during life, disputed debts or local law, so have the result confirmed before distributing.
Why does a son get twice a daughter's share?
Surah An-Nisa 4:11 sets the male's share as that of two females among children who inherit together. Scholars explain this alongside the financial duties placed on men, such as providing for the family and paying mahr.
What is awl in the Islamic Inheritance Calculator?
Awl is the proportional reduction used when fixed shares add up to more than the whole estate. The case base is raised, for example from 6 to 7, so every heir gives up the same proportion.
What happens if the only heir is a spouse?
The spouse takes the fixed share, 1/2 for a husband or 1/4 for a wife when there are no children, and the rest is shown as not allocated. Under the majority view it goes to distant kindred or as local law directs; some scholars return it to the spouse when no one else exists.
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