How inheritance is divided in Islam, step by step

This is the practical version: what to do, in order, with a pen and the actual numbers. For the reasoning behind each step, read Islamic inheritance law explained afterwards. To skip the arithmetic altogether, use the calculator.

Step 1 — Establish the net estate

Add up everything owned at death: property, cash, gold, business share, receivables. Then subtract, in order, the funeral costs, every outstanding debt, and any valid bequest up to one third of what remains. The figure left is what you divide.

Do not skip the debts. They come before the heirs entirely, even if that leaves the heirs with nothing.

Step 2 — List who survived, precisely

Write down every surviving relative with their exact relationship. "Brother" is not enough: a full brother, a paternal half-brother and a maternal half-sibling inherit completely differently. The same goes for grandmothers — the mother's mother and the father's mother are excluded by different people.

Two people are removed at this stage and do not count for anything afterwards: an heir who unlawfully killed the deceased, and, under the classical rule, an heir of a different religion.

Step 3 — Cross out whoever is excluded

Work down from the nearest relatives. A son excludes all brothers, sisters, nephews and uncles. A father excludes the grandfather and all siblings. A mother excludes every grandmother. Any child or grandchild excludes maternal half-siblings.

Keep the crossed-out names on the paper. Relatives always ask why they received nothing, and the answer — "your uncle was excluded by the deceased's son" — is easier to give with the list in front of you.

Step 4 — Give out the fixed shares

Now assign the six fractions. In most estates only three or four apply:

• Husband: 1/2, or 1/4 if there are children or grandchildren.
• Wife or wives together: 1/4, or 1/8 if there are children or grandchildren.
• Mother: 1/3, dropping to 1/6 if there is any child or grandchild, or two or more siblings.
• Father: 1/6 when there is a son or son's son; otherwise he takes the residue as well.
• Daughters with no brother: 1/2 if one, 2/3 shared if two or more.

Step 5 — Give the residue to the nearest residuary

Whatever is left goes to the first surviving class in this order: sons and their line; then the father and his father; then full brothers, half-brothers and their sons; then uncles and their sons. The first class present takes everything left, and the rest get nothing. Where men and women inherit together in this group, the male takes two shares to the female's one.

Step 6 — Check that it balances

Add the shares up. If they come to exactly the estate, you are done. If they come to more, apply awl: raise the denominator to the total and reduce everyone in proportion. If they come to less and no residuary survived, apply radd: return the surplus to the fixed-share heirs in proportion, but never to a husband or wife. Both are worked through in awl and radd explained.

A worked example on paper

A woman dies leaving PKR 1,200,000 after debts. She is survived by her husband, her mother, her father and one daughter.

1. Nobody is excluded. All four inherit.
2. Husband: there is a child, so 1/4 = 3/12.
3. Mother: there is a child, so 1/6 = 2/12.
4. Daughter: one daughter, no son, so 1/2 = 6/12.
5. Father: 1/6 = 2/12 as a fixed share, plus the residue.
6. Total so far: 3 + 2 + 6 + 2 = 13/12. That is more than the whole estate, so awl applies and the denominator becomes 13.

Nobody is cheated by awl. Everyone is reduced by the same proportion, which is exactly why the remedy exists.

Common questions

What if the heirs cannot agree on the value of the property?

The shares are fractions, so they hold whatever the valuation turns out to be. Establish the shares first and value the property second; doing it the other way round tends to turn a valuation dispute into an inheritance dispute.

What if one heir has already received money during the deceased's lifetime?

A genuine completed gift made during life is not part of the estate and is not deducted from that heir's share. A dispute about whether it was a gift or a loan is a factual question for a scholar or a court, not an arithmetic one.

Can I do this without knowing which school my family follows?

For most estates, yes — the four schools agree on the great majority of cases. They differ mainly when a grandfather competes with brothers. The calculator asks for the school anyway rather than guessing.

Run your own case through the calculator, or read about the daughter's share.