Can these shares be relied on in court?

No. The page is educational and indicative. An official division is issued by a competent court that examines death records, lineage and the nature of the assets.

What is settled before division?

Burial costs, then all debts, then bequests limited to a third of what remains after the debts.

Why does a son receive twice a daughter's share?

The system pairs shares with financial duties: maintaining a wife, children and relatives is obligatory on the man, while a woman's wealth is entirely her own with no duty to spend from it.

Does a sister inherit alongside a son?

No. A son, as a direct male descendant, excludes brothers and sisters entirely. It is one of the best known cases of exclusion.

How do I compute my own case?

Open the [inheritance calculator](/tools/inheritance) and select the heirs who actually survive and their number. Each share appears as a fraction, a percentage and an amount, with its reason.

Islamic inheritance

Common estate division cases

Eight fully worked inheritance cases: every heir's share as a fraction, a percentage and an amount, with the reason behind it and who is excluded. Enter an estate value to see the amounts.

Net estate after debts and bequests

Currency

Wife, two sons and a daughter

The most common case of all. The wife takes an eighth because there are children, and the rest goes to the sons and daughter, a son receiving twice a daughter's portion.

Heir	Share	Percentage	Amount
Sons (2)	7/10	70%	US$70,000.00US$35,000.00 each
Daughters	7/40	17.5%	US$17,500.00
Wife / wives	1/8	12.5%	US$12,500.00

Case base: 40

Husband, two daughters and a mother

This shows awl: the fixed shares add up to more than the estate, so every share is scaled down proportionally.

Heir	Share	Percentage	Amount
Daughters (2)	8/13	61.54%	US$61,538.46US$30,769.23 each
Husband	3/13	23.08%	US$23,076.92
Mother	2/13	15.38%	US$15,384.62

Case base: 13Shares scaled down (awl)

Case notes

This case required awl: the fixed shares exceeded the estate, so every share was scaled down proportionally, the view of the majority of the Companions.

Father, mother and one daughter

A single daughter takes a half, the mother a sixth, and the father a sixth as a fixed share plus the remainder as residuary heir, combining both capacities.

Heir	Share	Percentage	Amount
Daughters	1/2	50%	US$50,000.00
Father	1/3	33.33%	US$33,333.33
Mother	1/6	16.67%	US$16,666.67

Case base: 6

Wife, father and mother with no children

One of the two Umari cases: the mother takes a third of the remainder after the wife's share, not a third of the whole estate, because the father is present alongside a spouse.

Heir	Share	Percentage	Amount
Father	1/2	50%	US$50,000.00
Wife / wives	1/4	25%	US$25,000.00
Mother	1/4	25%	US$25,000.00

Case base: 4

Case notes

This is one of the two Umariyyatan cases: the mother takes one third of what remains after the spouse's share, not one third of the whole estate, as judged by Umar ibn al-Khattab and adopted by the majority.

Mother and two full sisters

This shows radd: the sisters take two thirds and the mother a sixth, and the surplus with no residuary heir is returned to the fixed sharers in proportion.

Heir	Share	Percentage	Amount
Full sisters (2)	4/5	80%	US$80,000.00US$40,000.00 each
Mother	1/5	20%	US$20,000.00

Case base: 5Surplus returned (radd)

Case notes

A surplus remained with no residuary heir, so it was returned proportionally to the fixed sharers other than the spouse, the majority position, unlike those who direct it to the public treasury.

Two daughters and a full brother

The daughters take two thirds as a fixed share and the full brother, as residuary heir, takes the remainder: female descendants reduce the brothers' share without excluding them.

Heir	Share	Percentage	Amount
Daughters (2)	2/3	66.67%	US$66,666.67US$33,333.33 each
Full brothers	1/3	33.33%	US$33,333.33

Case base: 3

Daughter and son's son

A son's son stands in for an absent son, taking the remainder after the daughter's half. It illustrates exclusion by degree rather than outright removal.

Heir	Share	Percentage	Amount
Daughters	1/2	50%	US$50,000.00
Son's sons	1/2	50%	US$50,000.00

Case base: 2

Husband, mother and two maternal half siblings

Maternal half siblings share a third equally between male and female, the one place in Islamic inheritance where the two are equal.

Heir	Share	Percentage	Amount
Husband	1/2	50%	US$50,000.00
Maternal half siblings (2)	1/3	33.33%	US$33,333.33US$16,666.67 each
Mother	1/6	16.67%	US$16,666.67

Case base: 6

Try your own case in the inheritance calculator

How to read an estate division case properly

The cases above are not hand-written examples. They are the output of the same faraid engine that powers the inheritance calculator, so what you read here can never contradict what the tool computes.

Before any division

Only the net estate is divided: what remains after burial costs, then all debts, whether owed to God such as unpaid zakat or owed to people, then bequests up to a third of the remainder. A bequest to an heir takes effect only with the other heirs' consent. The amount you enter above is that net figure.

Three terms that unlock everything

Fixed share (fard): a portion named in the text, such as a half, quarter, eighth, two thirds, a third or a sixth.
Residuary (asaba): taking what remains after the fixed shares, in order of closeness, the son first.
Exclusion (hijab): a nearer heir preventing a further one. It may remove an heir entirely, as a son removes brothers, or merely reduce a share, as children reduce a husband from a half to a quarter.

Awl and radd

When the fixed shares exceed the estate, the case undergoes awl: the base is increased and every share is reduced proportionally, as with a husband, two daughters and a mother. When a surplus remains with no residuary heir, radd returns it to the fixed sharers in proportion, excluding the spouse, as with a mother and two sisters. The tool flags both and shows the case base.

When a calculator is not enough

Automated calculation assumes clean, complete facts. Where there is a religious endowment, a company, jointly owned property, a missing heir, disputed lineage, or civil law in your country governing property registration, the matter belongs to a court or a qualified scholar. Treat this page as a tool for understanding and estimation, not a fatwa or a judgment.

Frequently asked questions