Islamic inheritance calculator: property shares by faraid
Islamic inheritance (mirath or faraid) divides what a Muslim leaves among relatives by fixed shares set out in the Quran — chiefly verses 4:11, 4:12 and 4:176 — and by the rules the classical jurists built on them. This Islamic inheritance calculator applies those rules to the heirs you enter: it pays funeral costs and debts first, limits any bequest to non-heirs to one-third, gives the fixed-share heirs their portions, passes the residue to the nearest male relatives, and applies ʿawl (proportional reduction) or radd (return of the surplus) when the shares do not add up exactly.
Each heir’s share is shown as an exact fraction, as a percentage and in money, with the reason for it — and relatives who are excluded are listed with the reason too, so you can follow the method. It is often used as a property share calculator in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Gulf and the UK. It runs in your browser and stores nothing.
Please read this: inheritance is a religious and legal matter. This tool shows the classical Sunni calculation (Hanafi by default) for the common heirs; it is not a fatwa or legal advice. Before dividing any property, ask a qualified scholar and a lawyer in your country — national laws, court practice and family circumstances can change the answer.
How to use the Islamic Inheritance Calculator
- Choose whether the person who died was male or female and the School (madhhab) to follow.
- Enter the Total estate value, then any Funeral expenses, Debts (including unpaid mahr) and Bequest to non-heirs.
- Enter the surviving heirs: spouse, sons and daughters, grandchildren through a son, parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters, and — under More distant male relatives — nephews, uncles and cousins.
- Read each heir’s fraction, percentage and amount in the table, and the numbered steps underneath.
- Take the result to a scholar or lawyer to confirm before transferring property.
Islamic Inheritance Calculator features
Exact fractions
Shares are calculated as fractions, not rounded decimals, and brought to a common denominator (tashih) so they add up exactly.
ʿAwl and radd
Over-subscribed estates are reduced proportionally; surpluses with no residuary heir are returned to the sharers other than the spouse.
Exclusion explained
Relatives blocked by nearer heirs (hajb) are listed with the reason, such as “excluded by the son”.
Four Sunni schools
Hanafi by default, with the Maliki, Shafi‘i and Hanbali positions on the Mushtaraka case and the father’s mother.
The main fixed shares
| Heir | Share | When |
|---|---|---|
| Husband | 1/2 or 1/4 | 1/4 if the deceased left children or a son’s children |
| Wife (wives share) | 1/4 or 1/8 | 1/8 if there are children |
| Daughter(s), no son | 1/2 or 2/3 | One daughter 1/2; two or more share 2/3. With a son they share the residue, a son taking twice a daughter |
| Father | 1/6, or 1/6 + residue, or residue | 1/6 with a son; 1/6 plus the residue with only daughters; the residue with no children |
| Mother | 1/6 or 1/3 | 1/6 with children or two or more siblings; with a spouse and the father, 1/3 of what is left after the spouse |
| Grandmother(s) | 1/6 | Only if the mother has died; shared between two |
| Full sister(s) | 1/2 or 2/3, or residue | Only with no son, father or (Hanafi) paternal grandfather; with daughters they take the residue |
| Maternal half-siblings | 1/6 or 1/3 | Only with no children, father or grandfather; men and women share equally |
Worked example
A man leaves ₹96 lakh, a wife, his mother, one son and two daughters. The wife takes 1/8 (₹12 lakh) because there are children; the mother 1/6 (₹16 lakh). The remaining 17/24 goes to the children as residuary heirs, the son counting as two daughters: 17/24 ÷ 4 parts gives each daughter 17/96 (₹17 lakh) and the son 17/48 (₹34 lakh). The common denominator is 96 parts: 12 + 16 + 34 + 17 + 17 = 96.
What this calculator does not cover
- Shia (Jaʿfari) rules, which order heirs differently; distant kindred (dhawu al-arham) when no sharer or residuary is left.
- The paternal grandfather together with brothers or sisters in the Maliki, Shafi‘i and Hanbali schools (muqasama) — flagged, not computed.
- Orphaned grandchildren under section 4 of Pakistan’s and Bangladesh’s Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961, whose application in Pakistan has been contested since a 2000 Federal Shariat Court decision — ask a lawyer.
- Unborn children, missing persons, people who died together, and impediments such as homicide or difference of religion; gifts made during life (hiba).
- Local law: in India the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 applies these rules; in England and Wales the intestacy rules apply unless there is a valid will, which is why many Muslims there make an Islamic will.
Islamic Inheritance Calculator FAQ
What is the share of a wife in her husband’s property in Islam?
One-eighth if he left children or a son’s children, one-quarter if he did not. Several wives share that portion equally.
What is a daughter’s share in Islamic inheritance?
With a son, each daughter receives half a son’s share from the residue. Without a son, one daughter receives 1/2 and two or more daughters share 2/3.
How does this property share calculator for Islam handle a surplus?
If the fixed shares leave something over and there is no residuary heir, the surplus is returned (radd) to the fixed-share heirs other than the husband or wife, in proportion to their shares.
What is ʿawl?
When the fixed shares add up to more than the whole estate, every share is reduced in the same proportion by raising the denominator — for example 1/2 + 2/3 = 7/6 becomes 3/7 and 4/7.
Can I use it as a property distribution calculator in Pakistan or Bangladesh?
Yes for the classical shares; it follows the Hanafi school by default, which most Muslims in both countries follow. Statutory rules such as section 4 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 are not applied, so confirm with a lawyer.
Are debts paid before inheritance?
Yes. Funeral costs and debts, including any unpaid mahr, come first; then bequests to non-heirs up to one-third of the remainder; only then is the estate divided.