Islamic Inheritance (Faraid) Calculator

Inheritance in Islam is not left to family custom or a free-form will. The Quran fixes a share for each close relative — spouse, children, parents — so that no heir is overlooked and no one person takes the whole estate. These fixed shares (faraid) are worked out in a specific order: debts and funeral costs are settled first, then the fixed heirs take their fractions, and whatever remains goes back to the closest relatives.

In practice, the arithmetic trips people up. A wife takes one eighth when there are children and one quarter when there are none; a husband takes one quarter with children and one half without; and among children each son receives twice the share of each daughter. This calculator lets you tick the heirs who are alive, set the number of sons, daughters, brothers and sisters, and watch each fraction and amount appear on its own line — so the reasoning is visible, not hidden.

That transparency matters at a moment when families are already grieving. When shares are clear on paper, there is less room for misunderstanding later, and the result can be taken straight to a scholar for confirmation.

A note on what the estate includes. Start with the net value of everything the person owned — property, savings, investments, business shares and personal possessions — after debts and funeral expenses. Gifts given during life are handled separately, and a home occupied by a family member is still valued as part of the estate; how it is divided or bought out by the heirs is a practical arrangement that families often settle with the scholar's guidance.

Settle debts and funeral costs first. Before any share is divided, outstanding debts and the cost of the funeral are paid from the estate. The estate value you enter should ideally already reflect that.

A will is limited to non-heirs. In most schools a bequest may cover up to one third of the estate for someone who is not a fixed heir; the remaining two thirds follows faraid. You cannot use a will to change an heir's fixed share.

Complex cases need a scholar. Situations such as grandparents, siblings alongside children, the 'awl shortfall (fractions adding to more than one) and the 'radd surplus (returning the remainder) are where the schools' detailed rules come in. This calculator handles the common combinations; the Pro edition extends coverage to these cases as a one-time purchase.

This is educational, not a legal document. Faraid is a serious religious and legal matter. Always confirm your specific case with a qualified Islamic scholar or Shariah advisor before distribution.

Bring this printout to that meeting. A worked list of shares — spouse one eighth, children's residual split two to one, and so on — gives the scholar a clear starting point and saves everyone from recalculating on the spot. The goal is not to replace the scholar but to arrive with the arithmetic already tidy.

Used this way, the calculator becomes a preparation tool rather than a verdict: it lays out the straightforward cases clearly, and flags the complex ones for the expert they always needed.