Islamic Inheritance (Faraid) Calculator

An Islamic inheritance calculator estimates how a deceased person's estate should be divided among their heirs according to Faraid, the system of inheritance set out in the Quran and the Sunnah. You tell the Toolfiddle calculator which relatives survive, such as a spouse, sons, daughters, and parents, and it works out the fixed shares each heir is due and how any remainder is distributed. The goal is to help you understand the shares clearly and respectfully, as an educational estimate that you then confirm with a qualified scholar before anything real is settled.

Islamic inheritance is one of the most precisely defined areas of Islamic law. The Quran names specific heirs and specific fractions in Surah an-Nisa, and the Prophetic teachings fill in the framework around them. Because the shares interlock, changing a single heir can change several others, and doing the arithmetic by hand is easy to get wrong. A careful calculator keeps the fractions consistent so you can see the whole picture at once.

What the Islamic inheritance calculator does

The calculator takes the list of surviving relatives and applies the rules of Faraid in the correct order. It first assumes the estate has already been reduced to the net amount available for inheritance, then assigns each entitled heir their fixed Quranic fraction, called a fard, and passes any residue to the residuary heirs, called the asaba. Where the fractions do not sum neatly to one, it applies the recognized adjustments so the total still balances.

What it produces is a clear breakdown: who inherits, the fraction each receives, and, if you enter an estate value, the amount that fraction represents. Seeing the shares side by side makes the logic of the system visible, which is useful for learning, for planning a will, and for checking your understanding before you speak with a scholar.

The tool is built to be honest about its limits. Faraid contains many special situations, and no short calculator captures every one. It handles the common cases that most families face, and it flags that anything unusual belongs with a qualified expert.

Who this tool is for

Muslims planning a will, an Islamic will sometimes called a wasiyyah document, are a central audience. Understanding roughly how your estate would divide helps you plan the optional one third bequest wisely and make sure your affairs are in order.

Families dealing with a recent death often need to understand the shares quickly and fairly, at a difficult time. An estimate can help everyone see the structure of the distribution before a scholar or an Islamic estate service finalizes it.

Students of Islamic studies and anyone learning ilm al-faraid, the science of inheritance shares, can use the calculator to check worked problems and build intuition for how the fractions interact.

Advisers, imams, and community volunteers who help families with estate questions can use it as a quick reference, while still relying on their own scholarship for the final ruling. For all of these users, the value is the same: a clear, private, first look at how the shares fall.

Before the shares: settling the estate first

A point that surprises many people is that the fixed shares apply only after the estate is settled. Islamic teaching sets a clear order of claims that come before the heirs receive anything.

• First, the funeral and burial expenses. The deceased is given a proper burial, and the reasonable cost of that comes out of the estate before anything else.
• Second, the debts. Everything the deceased owed, to people or institutions, is paid next. In Islam a debt is a serious obligation, and settling it takes priority over the inheritance of the heirs.
• Third, the bequest, the wasiyyah. A Muslim may direct up to one third of what remains after debts to a cause or a person of their choosing, commonly to charity or to relatives who are not fixed heirs. The one third is a ceiling, not a target, and the majority view holds that a bequest to someone who already inherits a fixed share is not valid unless the other heirs agree. Anything above one third likewise needs the heirs' consent.

Only what is left after these three claims, the net estate, is divided among the heirs under Faraid. A good Islamic inheritance calculator asks you to enter that net figure, or reminds you that its percentages apply to the amount remaining after funeral costs, debts, and any valid bequest.

The fixed shares (furud) for common heirs

At the heart of Faraid are the fixed fractions the Quran assigns to certain heirs. There are six of them: one half, one quarter, one eighth, two thirds, one third, and one sixth. Which heir gets which fraction depends on who else survives, so the rules below always turn on the surrounding relatives.

The husband inherits one half of his wife's net estate when she left no children or other descendant heirs, and one quarter when she did leave a descendant heir such as a child.

The wife inherits one quarter of her husband's net estate when he left no descendant heir, and one eighth when he did. Where a man leaves more than one wife, they share that single one quarter or one eighth equally among them, not each separately.

A single daughter, where the deceased left no son, inherits one half. Two or more daughters, again with no son present, together inherit two thirds, shared equally. When at least one son survives, the daughters do not take a fixed fraction. Instead they inherit with their brothers as residuary heirs, which the next section explains.

The father inherits one sixth when the deceased left a child or other descendant. If the deceased left daughters but no son, the father takes his one sixth and may also take any remaining residue as a residuary heir. If the deceased left no descendant at all, the father inherits as a pure residuary, taking what remains after other fixed shares.

The mother inherits one sixth when the deceased left a child or descendant, or left two or more siblings. She inherits one third when there is no child or descendant and fewer than two siblings. A recognized special case adjusts the mother's third in two particular family combinations, described further below.

Full sisters, where there is no descendant, no father, and no full brother, follow the same pattern as daughters: a single full sister takes one half and two or more take two thirds together. Maternal, or uterine, siblings are a distinct category: one alone takes one sixth, and two or more share one third equally, with no difference between brother and sister in that particular group.

Residuary heirs (asaba) and the two to one principle

After the fixed shares are assigned, any remaining estate passes to the residuary heirs, the asaba. These are usually male agnate relatives, though in some situations a woman inherits as a residuary alongside a male relative. The residuary heirs absorb whatever is left once the fixed sharers have taken their fractions, which is why in some estates they receive a large portion and in others very little.

The order of residuary heirs follows closeness to the deceased. A son comes first, then a son's son and his line, then the father, then the paternal grandfather, then full brothers, then paternal half brothers, and onward through the paternal line. A nearer residuary excludes a more distant one.

The best known feature of the residuary rule is the two to one principle. When sons and daughters inherit together as residuary heirs, each son receives twice the share of each daughter. So a deceased leaving two sons and one daughter, after any spouse and parents take their fixed shares, would split the residue into five equal parts, two parts to each son and one to the daughter.

Classical scholars explain this ratio through the financial responsibilities Islamic law assigns. A man is obliged to provide for his wife and dependents and to pay a marriage gift, the mahr, while a woman keeps her own wealth without any duty to spend it on others. The two to one share sits inside that wider framework of duties. The ratio applies to this category of heir, and there are other situations, such as maternal siblings, where male and female heirs receive equal shares.

Special cases: blocking, awl, and radd

Faraid is precise, and part of that precision is a set of rules for situations where the simple shares do not fit together neatly. Three of these come up often enough to understand.

Blocking, called hajb, is the rule by which the presence of one heir reduces or removes another. A son, for instance, blocks the deceased's brothers and sisters from inheriting and turns the daughters into residuary heirs. A father blocks the deceased's siblings and the grandfather. The presence of any child changes a spouse's share and a parent's share. Blocking is why the exact list of survivors matters so much, and why a calculator has to consider all the heirs together rather than one at a time.

Awl handles the case where the fixed shares add up to more than the whole estate. Rather than leave anyone short, the shares are reduced in proportion by increasing the common denominator to match the sum of the parts. The classic example, decided in the time of the Caliph Umar, is a woman survived by her husband and two full sisters. The husband's one half and the sisters' two thirds together come to seven sixths, more than the estate. Under awl the denominator rises from six to seven, so the husband takes three sevenths and each sister takes two sevenths. Everyone receives a proportionally smaller slice of a whole that now balances.

Radd is the opposite case, where the fixed shares leave a surplus and there is no residuary heir to take it. The extra is returned to the fixed sharers in proportion to their shares, with the majority view excluding a surviving spouse from that return. For example, if a woman is survived only by her mother and one daughter, the daughter's one half and the mother's one sixth sum to two thirds, leaving one third unclaimed. With no residuary heir, that third returns to the daughter and mother in the ratio of their shares, three to one, so the daughter effectively receives three quarters and the mother one quarter. If you want to check that ratio yourself, the fraction calculator will add and reduce the fractions for you.

The mother's special adjustment mentioned earlier belongs here too. In the two cases where the only heirs are a spouse together with both parents, the mother takes one third of what remains after the spouse's share rather than one third of the whole, so that the father, as the male residuary, is not left with a smaller portion than the mother in that specific pairing. These recognized cases show why careful scholarship, not just arithmetic, sits behind the system.

How to use the Toolfiddle Islamic inheritance calculator

The calculator is built to give a clear estimate in a few steps.

• Step one, enter the net estate value, if you want amounts. This is the figure left after funeral and burial costs, debts, and any valid bequest of up to one third. You can also work in pure fractions and skip the value.
• Step two, record the spouse. Indicate whether the deceased left a husband or a wife, or more than one wife, so the tool can pick the correct spouse fraction.
• Step three, add the children. Enter the number of sons and daughters. This is often the single biggest factor, because children change the spouse's and parents' shares and determine whether daughters take a fixed fraction or inherit as residuary heirs.
• Step four, add the parents and any other relevant heirs the tool supports, such as the father, the mother, and, in their absence, siblings. The calculator applies blocking so that heirs excluded by closer relatives are handled correctly.
• Step five, read the result. The tool shows each heir, the fraction they receive, and, if you entered a value, the amount. Where the shares required an adjustment such as awl or radd, the result reflects it so the total still balances to the whole estate.
• Step six, treat the output as a starting point. Use it to understand the shares and to prepare for a conversation with a scholar, rather than as the final word on a real estate. Everything you entered stays in your browser, which we return to below.

Worked examples

Concrete cases make the rules click, so here are three, each assuming the estate has already been settled down to the net amount.

A wife, two sons, and one daughter

A man dies leaving a wife, two sons, and one daughter, with a net estate of 100,000. The wife inherits one eighth because there are children, which is 12,500. The remaining 87,500 goes to the children as residuary heirs under the two to one rule. Splitting into five parts, two for each son and one for the daughter, gives each part 17,500. Each son receives 35,000 and the daughter receives 17,500. The four shares add back to 100,000.

A husband, a mother, and a father

A woman dies leaving a husband, her mother, and her father, and no children. The husband takes one half because there is no descendant. This is one of the recognized special cases: the mother takes one third of the remainder after the husband's half, which works out to one sixth of the whole, and the father takes the rest as residuary, one third of the whole. So the husband receives one half, the father one third, and the mother one sixth, which together make the entire estate.

A husband and two full sisters

A woman dies leaving a husband and two full sisters, with no children, no parents, and no brothers. The husband's fixed share is one half and the two full sisters' share is two thirds. Together these exceed the whole estate, so the awl rule applies and the common denominator rises to seven. The husband receives three sevenths and each sister receives two sevenths. Every heir takes a proportionally smaller share of a total that now adds up correctly.

These examples show how the same heir can receive very different amounts depending on who else survives, and why the full list of relatives has to be considered together.

Real-world ways people use the estimate

An Islamic inheritance estimate does practical work in several settings.

Writing an Islamic will is the most common. Knowing roughly how the fixed shares would fall helps a person decide how to use the optional one third bequest, perhaps for charity, a grandchild who would not otherwise inherit, or a non-Muslim relative, without disturbing the shares the heirs are due.

Understanding a distribution after a death gives grieving families a fair, structured picture of the shares, which can ease worry and reduce disputes while the final distribution is confirmed with a scholar or an Islamic estate service.

Learning and teaching the science of shares is another. Students working through Faraid problems can check their answers, and teachers can generate clear examples of how blocking, awl, and radd change the outcome.

Preparing for professional advice is perhaps the most valuable use. Walking into a meeting with a scholar, a mufti, or an Islamic estate lawyer already understanding the likely shares makes the conversation faster and more productive, and helps you ask the right questions about your particular situation.

Tips and common misunderstandings to avoid

A few points trip people up, and keeping them in mind makes any estimate more reliable.

• Settle the estate before dividing it. The shares apply to the net estate after funeral costs, debts, and any valid bequest, not to the gross value of everything the deceased owned. Applying the fractions to the wrong figure gives the wrong amounts.
• Remember the bequest cap. The wasiyyah may not exceed one third without the heirs' consent, and in the majority view it may not go to someone who already inherits a fixed share. It is a way to provide for those outside the fixed shares, not a way to rewrite them.
• Do not assume shares are independent. Heirs interact. Adding a son changes the daughters from fixed sharers to residuary heirs and can block siblings entirely. Always consider the whole family together, which is exactly what the calculator does.
• Know that schools and traditions differ. The four Sunni schools agree on the core framework but differ on some details, and Shia jurisprudence differs more substantially in places. An estimate built on the common Sunni framework may not match a ruling in another tradition.
• Treat the number as educational. Real estates carry facts a quick tool cannot see, from disputed debts to unusual family structures. The estimate is a guide to understanding, and the final distribution belongs with a qualified scholar.

A respectful note and disclaimer

Islamic inheritance is a matter of worship and law, taken directly from the Quran and the Sunnah, and it deserves to be treated with care. This calculator is offered as an educational aid to help Muslims and students understand how the fixed shares and residuary portions generally work. It is not a fatwa, not legal advice, and not a substitute for the judgment of a qualified scholar.

Faraid contains many detailed cases that a short tool cannot fully cover, including intricate blocking situations, grandparents and more distant kin, missing or simultaneously deceased heirs, estates spanning different countries and legal systems, and questions particular to a school of thought. The rules can also differ between Sunni and Shia jurisprudence and among the Sunni schools themselves.

For any real estate, please consult a knowledgeable and trustworthy scholar, a mufti, or a qualified Islamic estate specialist, and take account of the civil probate law where you live. Use this tool to learn and to prepare, and let a qualified expert confirm the final distribution. Handling an inheritance correctly is an act of justice toward the heirs and a duty owed to the deceased, and it is worth doing with proper guidance.

Your family and estate details stay on your device

Because the topic is so sensitive, it matters that nothing you enter here goes anywhere. The list of relatives, the estate value, and every figure you type are handled entirely by code running inside your own browser. None of it is uploaded to a server, stored in an account, or logged on our side. Details about a death, a family, and money are among the most private information there is, and this tool is built so that yours stays with you.

This local design is deliberate. Many online calculators quietly send what you type to a remote server to process it, sometimes alongside tracking. That would be the wrong approach for something as personal as an estate. Here the math runs on your device, so there is nothing to leak and nothing for anyone to collect. If you disconnected from the internet right after the page loaded, the calculator would keep working exactly the same, which is the clearest proof your information has nowhere else to go.

Genuinely free, with no sign-up

The Islamic inheritance calculator is free in the plain sense. There is no account to create, no email to hand over, and no payment at any point. You will not meet a wall asking you to register before it shows the shares, and there is no premium tier holding back the parts that matter. Every feature is available to everyone from the first visit.

We mention this because charging for simple tools, or trading them for personal details, has become common. For a subject like inheritance, quietly harvesting an email in exchange for a result would be especially inappropriate. This tool asks nothing of you. There are no daily limits either, so work through one estate or many while planning or studying, and it behaves the same each time.

Instant results with nothing in the way

Because the calculation happens on your device, the shares appear the moment you finish entering the heirs. There is no spinner while a request travels to a server and back, no queue at busy times, and no drag from the heavy advertising scripts that clutter so many sites. The page is kept deliberately light, so it loads quickly even on a modest phone and a slow connection.

That speed is helpful when you are trying to understand a distribution, often at a hard or busy moment. A quick, clear answer lets you focus on the shares themselves rather than on waiting. You can change an heir and see the whole distribution update at once, run as many scenarios as you like, and never hit a limit, all while the page stays calm and clean.

Works on every device, even offline

The calculator behaves the same on a phone in your hand, a tablet on the table, or a laptop at your desk. The layout adjusts to the screen so the heirs and their shares stay readable on a small display. Once the page has loaded, the calculation no longer needs the internet, so a plane, a remote area, or a dropped connection will not stop you from working through an estate. Nothing depends on a particular brand of browser, as long as it is reasonably modern, and there is nothing to install.

Related tools on Toolfiddle

Settling an estate involves numbers and currencies, and Toolfiddle has light, private tools for that side of the work. Because the shares are fractions, the fraction calculator helps you add, reduce, and check share fractions by hand, and the percentage calculator turns those fractions into percentages of an estate. When an estate spans more than one country, the currency converter helps you value assets in a single currency, and the income tax calculator can help you think through liabilities that form part of the estate's debts. If the estate includes a property with a loan still on it, the mortgage calculator will show what is left to repay. Each keeps your figures on your device, just like this tool.

A quick recap

An Islamic inheritance calculator estimates how an estate divides under Faraid once the estate is settled, meaning funeral costs, then debts, then a bequest of up to one third are paid first. The fixed shares, the furud, assign fractions such as one half, one quarter, one eighth, two thirds, one third, and one sixth to heirs like the spouse, daughters, and parents, and the residuary heirs, the asaba, take what remains, with sons receiving twice a daughter's share in that category. Special rules handle blocking, over-subscription through awl, and the return of surplus through radd. The Toolfiddle calculator applies these rules for common cases, keeps every detail private on your device, stays completely free with no sign-up, and works on any device even offline. Above all, treat the result as an educational estimate and confirm any real distribution with a qualified scholar.