Islamic wills in the UK: why calculating your shares is only half the job

A Muslim who dies in England or Wales without a will does not have their estate divided according to Faraid. It is divided by the intestacy rules, which have nothing to do with Islamic law and frequently produce a very different result. Working out your Islamic shares — which the calculator will do in a minute — establishes what you want. Making that happen is a separate step, and it needs a will.

This is general information about how the two systems interact, not legal advice. A solicitor should draft the will itself.

What happens without a will

Under the intestacy rules in England and Wales, a surviving spouse takes the personal possessions, a fixed statutory legacy, and half of anything beyond that, with the children sharing the rest. If there are no children, a spouse can take the entire estate.

Compare that with Faraid, where a widow with children takes one eighth, and where the deceased's parents are entitled to a sixth each. Under intestacy, parents receive nothing at all while a spouse or child survives. That gap is not a rounding difference — it is a completely different distribution.

Scotland has its own rules, including "legal rights" for a spouse and children that cannot be defeated by a will, so the analysis there is different again.

What a valid will requires

English law does not care whether a will is "Islamic". It cares whether it is valid, and the formalities are strict: it must be in writing, signed by you, and your signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence of two witnesses who each sign in your presence.

The most common way a home-made will fails is the witnesses. A beneficiary, or the spouse of a beneficiary, must not witness the will. The will stays valid but that person's gift is void — so having your son or your brother's wife witness it can quietly destroy exactly the distribution you were trying to secure.

How an Islamic will is usually structured

A well-drafted Islamic will for England and Wales generally does four things:

1. Appoints executors and, where there are young children, guardians.
2. Directs payment of funeral expenses and debts first — including any unpaid mahr, which is a debt of the estate and not a bequest.
3. Makes any bequest (wasiyyah) up to one third of the remainder, typically to charity or to relatives who are not heirs.
4. Directs that the residue be distributed according to the Islamic shares. Some drafters set out the fractions explicitly; others define them by reference. Fixed fractions are clear but go out of date if your family changes, so this is worth discussing with the solicitor.

Two things a will cannot do here

It cannot stop a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Certain people — a spouse, a former spouse who has not remarried, a child, someone treated as a child of the family, and someone maintained by you — can ask a court for reasonable financial provision if the will does not make it. A distribution that gives a widow an eighth is a realistic candidate for such a claim, and a good drafter will plan around it rather than hope.

It does not deal with property that passes outside the estate. A house held as beneficial joint tenants passes automatically to the survivor, and a pension death benefit usually follows a nomination form. Neither is touched by your will. If you want them inside the Islamic distribution, the ownership or the nomination has to be changed, not the will.

What to do, in order

1. Work out your current Islamic shares with the calculator, so you know what you are aiming at.
2. List what would pass outside your estate — joint property, pensions, life policies in trust.
3. Instruct a solicitor who has drafted Islamic wills before. Take the share calculation with you.
4. Review it after a marriage, a divorce, a birth or a death. Marriage revokes an English will unless it was made in contemplation of that marriage.

Common questions

Is a will from Pakistan valid in the UK?

Possibly, depending on where you are domiciled and where the assets are, but relying on it is risky. If you have assets in both countries, take advice on whether you need a will in each and make sure the two do not accidentally revoke one another.

Does an Islamic will have to mention Islam at all?

No. What matters legally is the instructions. Many Islamic wills recite the intention because it helps the executors and the family understand the structure, but the legal effect comes from the dispositive clauses.

Can I leave more than a third to charity?

English law allows it. Islamic law does not, without the heirs' consent after death. The will has to be drafted knowing which of those you are choosing.

See also Islamic wills in the United States, or start with Islamic inheritance law explained.