What this calculator does
It divides a Muslim's estate between the heirs the Quran and Sunnah name, and shows the working. You enter the estate, the funeral costs, the debts and any bequest, then tick or count the relatives who survived. The calculator gives every heir an exact fraction, such as 7/32, and the amount that fraction is worth. Next to each share it names the verse or hadith the share comes from.
It also tells you who inherits nothing and why. A brother may be alive and still get nothing because the father blocks him. Those exclusions are where people usually go wrong, so the calculator lists them rather than hiding them.
When the fixed shares come to more than the whole estate, it applies 'awl, scaling them all down. When they come to less and nobody is left to take the rest, it applies radd, returning the surplus. It says when either happens and what it did.
Scope. Sunni inheritance law, following the Hanafi and Hanbali positions where the schools differ; the main difference is noted below. It covers spouses, children, sons' children, parents, full and half siblings, and other male relatives on the father's side as one group. It does not cover grandfathers, grandmothers, distant kindred or the Shia rules. If a grandparent of the deceased is alive, ask a scholar: a grandfather changes several shares and the schools disagree about him.
How Islamic inheritance is calculated
1. From estate to inheritance
Four claims are met in a fixed order before anyone inherits:
- The funeral and burial costs, from the whole estate.
- The deceased's debts.
- Any bequest (wasiyya), up to one third of what is left. The Prophet ﷺ told Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas "one third, yet even one third is too much" (Sahih al-Bukhari 2742). A bequest cannot go to someone who already inherits.
- The heirs share the rest.
2. Who is excluded (hajb)
Some relatives block others completely. A son excludes sons' children and all brothers and sisters. A son's son also excludes the siblings. The father excludes every brother and sister. Any child or son's child, or the father, excludes the half-siblings through the mother. Full brothers exclude half-siblings through the father. Two daughters take the full two thirds, which shuts out sons' daughters unless a son's son is there to share the remainder with them. Two full sisters do the same to half-sisters through the father.
3. The fixed shares (fard)
| Heir | Share | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Husband | 1/2, or 1/4 if there are children or sons' children | Quran 4:12 |
| Wife (or wives, shared) | 1/4, or 1/8 if there are children or sons' children | Quran 4:12 |
| Daughters, with no son | One: 1/2. Two or more: 2/3 shared | Quran 4:11 |
| Son's daughters, with no son | As daughters if there is no daughter; 1/6 beside exactly one daughter | Sahih al-Bukhari 6736 |
| Father | 1/6 with a son or son's son; 1/6 plus the remainder with only daughters | Quran 4:11; Bukhari 6732 |
| Mother | 1/6 with children or two or more siblings; otherwise 1/3 | Quran 4:11 |
| Full sisters | One: 1/2. Two or more: 2/3 shared | Quran 4:176 |
| Half-sisters through the father | As full sisters if there are none; 1/6 beside exactly one full sister | Quran 4:176; Bukhari 6736 by analogy |
| Half-siblings through the mother | One: 1/6. Two or more: 1/3, shared equally by men and women | Quran 4:12 |
4. The remainder ('asaba)
"Give the fixed shares to those entitled to them, then whatever remains goes to the closest male relative" (Sahih al-Bukhari 6732). The remainder goes to the nearest of these classes, in order: sons with daughters; sons' sons with sons' daughters; the father; full brothers with full sisters; half-brothers through the father with their sisters; then more distant male relatives on the father's side. Inside a class a male takes twice a female's share (Quran 4:11 and 4:176). Full sisters (or, failing them, half-sisters through the father) also take the remainder when the deceased left daughters but no son, son's son, father or brother, as Ibn Mas'ud ruled in Bukhari 6736.
5. 'Awl and radd
'Awl applies when the fixed shares add up to more than one. Every fixed share is divided by the total, so each heir loses the same proportion. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab first ruled this way for a husband and two sisters.
Radd applies when the fixed shares add up to less than one and no residuary heir survives. The surplus goes back to the fixed-share heirs in proportion to their shares. A husband or wife keeps only the fixed share and takes no part of the return.
each non-spouse share after radd = its fixed share × (1 − spouse's share) ÷ (total fixed shares of the non-spouse heirs)If only a spouse is left, the rest does not go to the spouse. It belongs to more distant relatives (dhawu al-arham) if there are any. The calculator shows it as unallocated and tells you to ask a scholar.
6. The 'Umariyyatan
When the only heirs are a spouse and both parents, the mother takes one third of what is left after the spouse, not one third of the whole. That keeps the father at twice the mother's share. With a husband: 1/2, mother 1/6, father 1/3. With a wife: 1/4, mother 1/4, father 1/2.
Worked example
A man dies leaving a wife, his mother and one daughter. His estate is worth £150,000. The funeral cost £3,000 and he owed £12,000. His will leaves £20,000 to a mosque.
Net estate. £150,000 − £3,000 − £12,000 = £135,000. One third of that is £45,000, so the £20,000 bequest is within the limit. The heirs share £135,000 − £20,000 = £115,000.
Fixed shares. There is a daughter, so the wife takes 1/8 and the mother 1/6. The single daughter takes 1/2. Over 24 parts that is 3 + 4 + 12 = 19 parts, leaving 5/24.
Remainder. No son, father, brother or other male relative survives, so there is no residuary heir. The 5/24 goes back by radd.
Radd. The wife keeps 1/8. The other 7/8 is split between mother and daughter in the ratio of their shares, 1/6 to 1/2, which is 1 to 3. The mother gets 7/8 × 1/4 = 7/32 and the daughter gets 7/8 × 3/4 = 21/32.
| Heir | Fixed share | Final share | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wife | 1/8 | 4/32 | £14,375.00 |
| Mother | 1/6 | 7/32 | £25,156.25 |
| Daughter | 1/2 | 21/32 | £75,468.75 |
| Total | 32/32 | £115,000.00 |
An 'awl case works the other way. A woman leaves her husband and two full sisters. The husband's 1/2 and the sisters' 2/3 make 7/6. Each share is divided by 7/6: the husband gets 3/7 and the sisters 4/7, or 2/7 each.
Where the schools differ
The Mushtaraka (or Himariyya). A woman leaves her husband, her mother, two or more half-siblings through the mother, and full brothers. The husband takes 1/2, the mother 1/6 and the maternal half-siblings 1/3, which uses up the estate. Abu Hanifa and Ahmad hold that the full brothers, who only take a remainder, get nothing. This calculator follows that view. Malik and al-Shafi'i, following 'Umar's later ruling, let the full siblings share the third equally with the maternal half-siblings, because they share the same mother.
The leftover with no residuary heir. The calculator follows the radd view applied in the fatwas cited below. Scholars have not all agreed on this point, and in some countries a Shari'ah court decides it, so check the rule where the estate is divided.
What to check before you rely on it
- Heirs are the relatives alive at the moment of death. A son who died before his father does not inherit, though his own children may.
- A non-Muslim relative does not inherit from a Muslim (Sahih al-Bukhari 6764), and a killer does not inherit from the person killed (Sunan Ibn Majah 2645). Leave them out.
- Stepchildren, adopted children, in-laws and a daughter's children are not fixed heirs. A bequest of up to one third is how you provide for them.
- Count only what the deceased owned. A spouse's own money and property are not part of the estate, and jointly owned property counts only for the deceased's part.
- In the UK, if someone dies without a valid will, the legal intestacy rules decide who inherits, not these shares. To have an estate divided this way, write a will that follows these rules and have it checked by a solicitor and a scholar.