What is Faraid? Islamic Inheritance Law Explained

What is Faraid?

Faraid (فرائض) — literally "the obligatory shares" — is the Quranic system of inheritance that governs how a Muslim's estate is distributed after death. It is derived from the root word faradha, meaning "to make obligatory," and refers to the precise fractional shares that Allah has fixed for specific relatives in the Quran.

Unlike secular inheritance law, which gives the deceased broad freedom to distribute wealth as they please, Faraid is a divine prescription. At least two-thirds of every Muslim estate must be distributed according to these fixed Quranic rules, regardless of what the deceased may have wished. No will, contract, or human authority can override the shares Allah has assigned.

The science of Faraid is formally known as Ilm al-Fara'id (علم الفرائض) — the science of obligatory shares. It is considered so important in Islam that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) called it "half of all knowledge" and commanded that it be learned and taught in every generation.

The Quranic Foundation of Faraid

Faraid is unique among Islamic legal subjects because its rules are not derived through scholarly deduction — they are explicitly and mathematically stated in the Quran itself. The primary source is Surah An-Nisa (Chapter 4), verses 11, 12, and 176, which together assign specific fractions to eight categories of heirs.

Allah frames these verses with an unusual directness: "These are the limits set by Allah" (4:13). He then warns immediately: "And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits — He will put him into the Fire" (4:14). No other legal topic in the Quran is introduced with this direct pairing of command and warning, underlining just how seriously Allah treats the correct distribution of inheritance.

The Six Fixed Shares in Faraid

Islamic jurisprudence identifies six fixed fractional shares (Furud Muqaddarah) that may be assigned to Quranic heirs. Each share applies only under specific conditions relating to who else survives the deceased.

After fixed shares are assigned, any remaining portion of the estate (the residue) passes to residuary heirs (Asabah). The son is the most common residuary heir — he takes everything that remains after fixed sharers have been satisfied. If no residuary heir exists and surplus remains, it is returned to the fixed-share heirs proportionally through a mechanism called Radd (return).

Who Are the Quranic Heirs?

Not all relatives inherit under Faraid. Islam defines a specific group of Ashab al-Furud (fixed-share heirs) who can never be completely excluded from an estate. These are:

• Spouses — husband or wife (up to four wives, sharing equally)
• Parents — father and mother
• Children — sons and daughters
• Grandchildren — grandsons and granddaughters through a son
• Grandparents — paternal grandfather and grandmother
• Siblings — full brothers and sisters, paternal half-siblings, maternal half-siblings

Beyond this primary group, more distant relatives — uncles, nephews, cousins — may inherit as Dhawul Arham (distant kindred) only when no closer heir exists. In practice, the presence of even one son or daughter eliminates most distant relatives from any share.

Blocking Rules: How Heirs Are Excluded

One of the most misunderstood aspects of Faraid is Hajb — the blocking or exclusion of one heir by a closer heir. There are two types:

Complete Blocking (Hajb Hirman)

A more distant relative is completely excluded by a closer one. For example: a paternal grandfather is completely blocked when the father is alive. Full brothers are completely blocked when a son is alive. The general principle is that a closer degree of relationship excludes a more distant one.

Partial Blocking (Hajb Nuqsan)

Some heirs are not excluded but receive a reduced share when a certain relative is present. For example: a mother's share drops from 1/3 to 1/6 when the deceased had children. A wife's share drops from 1/4 to 1/8 when children are present.

Awl and Radd: When Shares Don't Add Up

In some estate configurations, the fixed shares assigned to all heirs add up to more than the whole estate — or to less. Faraid has elegant solutions for both scenarios.

Awl (Proportional Reduction)

When all the fixed shares total more than 1 (for example: husband 1/2 + two sisters 2/3 = 7/6), the estate is insufficient. The solution is Awl — the shares are proportionally reduced so they fit within 100% of the estate. Each heir receives slightly less than their full entitlement, but the proportions between heirs remain fair. This was resolved by the companion Zayd ibn Thabit (رضي الله عنه) and accepted by scholarly consensus.

Radd (Return of Surplus)

When fixed shares total less than 1 and no residuary heir exists, the surplus is returned to the fixed-share heirs proportionally — this is called Radd. The Maliki madhab uniquely allows the Radd to also be given to a surviving spouse; other madhabs restrict Radd to non-spouse heirs.

What Must Happen Before Distribution

Before a single dirham of Faraid can be distributed, three prior obligations must be settled from the estate in strict order:

1. Funeral and burial costs — reasonable expenses for the deceased's janazah and burial
2. All outstanding debts — loans, unpaid Mahr, outstanding Zakat, and any contractual obligations
3. The Wasiyyah (bequest) — up to a maximum of one-third of what remains, only to non-heirs

Only after these three are fully settled does the remaining net estate become available for Faraid distribution. The Islamic inheritance calculator on this site handles all three deductions in Step 3 of the calculation wizard, giving you a live net estate figure before shares are assigned.

Do All Four Madhabs Calculate Faraid the Same Way?

The core fixed shares are identical across all four Sunni schools of jurisprudence — Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali — because they derive directly from the Quran, where there is no scholarly disagreement. However, the madhabs differ on a small number of edge cases:

• Grandfather alongside siblings: The Hanafi school gives the grandfather complete priority over all siblings. The other three schools apply muqasama — the grandfather shares with siblings but receives no less than one-third.
• Radd to spouse: Only the Maliki school allows the surplus estate to be returned to the surviving spouse. The other three schools exclude the spouse from Radd.
• Grandmother's share: All schools agree on 1/6, but differ on which grandmothers qualify when both paternal and maternal grandmothers survive.

Our calculator supports all four madhabs and applies the correct rules for each automatically. You can select your madhab in Step 1 and the engine adjusts every rule accordingly.

How to Calculate Faraid Manually

While our calculator handles the mathematics instantly, understanding the manual process helps you verify any result. The process follows these steps:

1. Identify all surviving heirs and their relationship to the deceased
2. Apply blocking rules — remove any heirs completely excluded by a closer relative
3. Assign fixed shares to all Ashab al-Furud using the Quranic fractions
4. Check for Awl — if shares total more than 1, increase the denominator proportionally
5. Assign the residue to Asabah (residuary heirs), if any remain
6. Apply Radd — if shares total less than 1 and no Asabah exists, return surplus to non-spouse heirs proportionally
7. Multiply each fraction by the net estate value to get the monetary amount per heir

Worked Example: Father, Mother, Two Daughters, and a Wife

Net estate after debts and Wasiyyah: R 600,000

Step 1 — Assign fixed shares: Wife = 1/8, Father = 1/6, Mother = 1/6, Two Daughters = 2/3.
Step 2 — Check total: 1/8 + 1/6 + 1/6 + 2/3 = 3/24 + 4/24 + 4/24 + 16/24 = 27/24 — this exceeds 1, so Awl applies.
Step 3 — Apply Awl: Raise the denominator from 24 to 27. Each heir receives their original numerator out of 27. The father has no residue to claim — Awl absorbs it. All shares reduce proportionally.

Notice that the father receives only his fixed 1/6 — Awl leaves no residue for him to claim as Asabah. Every heir receives slightly less than their nominal share, but the estate distributes exactly and fairly.

Faraid vs. a Regular Will: What is the Difference?

Many Muslims conflate Faraid with a will (Wasiyyah), but they are fundamentally different instruments:

A Wasiyyah cannot be used to increase a Quranic heir's share beyond what Faraid prescribes, nor to reduce it. Any Wasiyyah that attempts to do so is void under Islamic law. This is the basis of the famous Hadith: "There is no bequest to an heir" (La Wasiyyata li Warith).

Frequently Asked Questions About Faraid